New Report Shows Women's Folate Level is Down

11/01/07 A new government report on folate levels in women should be the trigger for action to double the fortification of this crucial B vitamin in the grain food supply, the March of Dimes said.

Since 1998, the Food and Drug Administration has required the addition of 140 micrograms of folic acid per 100 grams of grain to cereals, breads, pastas, and other foods labeled "enriched." The March of Dimes said it would petition FDA to double that level to 280 micrograms.

The detailed report on folate status in women of childbearing age was published this week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Measuring the levels of folate in the blood of about 4,500 nonpregnant women ages 15 to 44 from 1999-2000 through 2003-2004, researchers found that the levels declined significantly in women across the three major ethnic groups in the United States.

"The MMWR findings are very disturbing. Folic acid is the most important vitamin that women can take to help prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine, and it's most important that they start consuming it before they get pregnant and continuing into early pregnancy," said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.

The U.S. Public Health Service says that if all women of childbearing age consumed 400 micrograms of folic acid daily -- before and during pregnancy -- it could help prevent up to 70 percent of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects (NTDs), serious birth defects of the brain and spine such as spina bifida and anencephaly.

Unfortunately, Dr. Howse notes, according to an annual survey conducted by The Gallup Organization for the March of Dimes, although most women of childbearing age are aware of folic acid, only 33 percent actually consume a daily multivitamin containing folic acid.

Since the fortification of enriched grain products with folic acid, the rate of NTDs in the U.S. has decreased 26 percent. "We can do a better job of preventing these tragic birth defects," Dr. Howse said. "FDA has to take action to increase the level of folic acid in the food supply to move this highly effective prevention effort forward."