Recommendations for folate intake in women: implications for public health strategies

Almeida, Lana Carneiro; Cardoso, Marly Augusto

doi:10.1590/s0102-311x2010001100003

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…These differences cannot be compared directly due to discrepancies in national guidelines and the financial barriers in some regions [27]. The most popular vitamin and mineral supplements contain iron, folic acid and vitamin D [12,28]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anaemia during pregnancy is a public health problem that affects both developed and developing countries and has an impact not only on health providers, but also on the socio-economic environment [12]. Prevention strategies for iron deficiency and maternal anaemia include nutritional education, promoting the intake of iron and folic acid supplements, and food fortification [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutritional knowledge as a determinant of vitamin and mineral supplementation during pregnancy

et al. 2013

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BackgroundPregnancy is a critical period for both woman and baby from a nutritional perspective. Nutritional education is considered an important tool for promoting a healthy lifestyle, but has not been studied as a determinant for maternal use of supplements during pregnancy, especially in Romania, where evidence about pregnancy and nutrition is scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between nutritional knowledge and the use of folic acid, iron and multivitamin supplements during pregnancy and to assess the influence of socio-demographic factors and prenatal care.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study on a sample of 400 pregnant women admitted to the Cuza-Vodă Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinical Hospital in Iaşi, Romania, during August-September 2010. We collected self-reported data regarding socio-demographic characteristics, number of prenatal check-ups and the use of folic acid, iron and multivitamin supplements during pregnancy. We assessed nutritional knowledge using a standardized questionnaire divided into three sections: general nutritional recommendations for pregnant women; the roles of nutrients; and sources of nutrients. We used logistic regression to analyse the associations between these factors.ResultsThe prevalence of the use of supplements during pregnancy was 48% for folic acid, 45.3% for iron and 68% for multivitamins. Above-average nutritional knowledge was independently associated with the use of folic acid (aOR, 4.7; 95% CI, 1.6-13.8), iron (aOR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.2-5.7) and multivitamins (aOR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2-6.8). The use of folic acid was independently associated with a higher level of formal education (aOR, 5.2; 95% CI, 2.1-12.8) and an early start in prenatal care (aOR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.0-11.1). Women with a higher education (aOR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.9), more than 10 prenatal visits (aOR, 7.2; 95% CI, 3.4-15.0) and those who received advice on breastfeeding (aOR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1-3.5) were more likely to use iron during pregnancy. Similar results were found when analysing the contributing factors for the use of multivitamins: more than 12 years of schooling (aOR, 3.4; 95% CI, 1.4-7.9) and appropriate prenatal care (aOR, 9.4; 95% CI, 4.5-19.5).ConclusionsLevel of nutritional knowledge has a strong independent association with the use of supplements during pregnancy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional knowledge as a determinant of vitamin and mineral supplementation during pregnancy

et al. 2013

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“…The established folate requirement of pregnant women exceeds that of nonpregnant women, and it is challenging to meet the requirement without fortified foods and/or supplementation 30 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Folate inadequacy in the diet of pregnant women

2014

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OBJECTIVE: To estimate food and dietary folate inadequacies in the diets of adult pregnant women. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted with 103 healthy pregnant adult users of the Public Health Care System of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. The present study included the 82 women with complete food intake data during pregnancy, which were collected by three 24-hour dietary recalls. Food folate (folate naturally present in foods) and dietary folate (food folate plus folate from fortified wheat flour and cornmeal) inadequacies were determined, using the Estimated Average Requirement as cutoff. RESULTS: The diets of 100% and 94% of the pregnant women were inadequate in food folate and dietary folate, respectively. However, fortified foods increased the medium availability of the nutrient by 87%. CONCLUSION: The large number of pregnant women consuming low-folate diets was alarming. Nationwide population studies are needed to confirm the hypothesized high prevalence of low-folate diets among pregnant women.

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“…In 2000, the Chilean ministry of health mandated that folic acid should be added at a level of 2.2mg/kg to wheat flour (Hertrampf and Cortés, 2004). In June 2004, the Brazilian government introduced mandatory fortification of wheat and maize flour with 150µg/100 g (Almeida and Cardoso, 2010). A number of Middle Eastern countries, as well as Indonesia now fortify their flour.…”

Section: Fortification Of Food With Folic Acidmentioning

confidence: 99%