Archived
June, 2007 |
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Hispanic Health Program
FOLIC ACID KNOWLEDGE AND
USE AMONG HISPANIC WOMEN
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM?
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The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Council on Folic
Acid and the National Alliance on Hispanic Health have promoted
folic acid use/consumption
before pregnancy
to prevent serious birth defects -- spina bifida and anencephaly. |
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Hispanic/Latina women have a
risk 1.5 to 3 times higher than non-Hispanic
white women for having a child
affected by these birth defects. |
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Hispanic/Latina women have
lower blood folate levels, and are less likely to consume foods
fortified with folic acid. |
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Hispanic/Latina women are
less likely to have heard about folic acid, to know it can prevent
birth defects, or take vitamins containing folic acid before
pregnancy. |
WHAT HAS CDC
ACCOMPLISHED?
National
Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) has conducted a
campaign to increase awareness of folic acid among Hispanic/Latina women.
Activities include development of television, radio, and print messages in
English and Spanish. Voluntary public service advertisements and paid
media outreach were conducted. Both interventions focused on folic acid
education for health care providers who work with Hispanic/Latina women. The paid
campaign used community lay health workers (promotoras).
Example of
program in action: |
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Pilot testing was completed
in San Antonio and Miami at the end of 2002. Initial analysis of pre- and
post-campaign survey data show increased awareness of folic acid among
Hispanic/Latina women in these cities. In addition, the increase in knowledge
translated into an increased use of folic acid. Following the paid media
intervention, the knowledge and consumption patterns among Hispanic/Latina women
were more similar to those of non-Hispanic women. Additional analyses are
underway, and results will be used to improve the campaign and sustain the
results. |
WHAT ARE THE NEXT
STEPS?
Long term continuation of
this campaign and its evaluation should ultimately change the behaviors of
Hispanic/Latina women prior to pregnancy and decrease the rate of neural tube
defects in the Hispanic/Latino population. This will hopefully close the gap of
health disparities between white and minority populations in the U.S.,
where this birth defect is concerned.
For more
information, contact the National Center on Birth Defects and
Developmental Disabilities, Mailstop F45, 4770 Buford Highway NE,
Atlanta, GA 30341; (770) 488-7703;
ail5@cdc.gov;
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folico. |
Back to the Hispanic/Latino Populations Page
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