January 6-12, 2013 is National Folic Acid Awareness Week. The following blog post explains the importance of folic acid in the diet of a pregnant woman and her unborn child and the significance of folic acid research and biomonitoring by NCEH’s Environmental Health Laboratory.
A couple of decades ago, about 4,000 babies were born each year with neural tube defects, which are major birth defects of a baby’s brain or spine that can cause severe disability or death. These defects occur during early pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant. For example, spina bifida is one type of neural tube defect and may cause physical and mental disabilities that range from mild to severe. CDC has played a major role in changes that dramatically decreased the number of babies born with neural tube defects.
Did you Know…
In 1992, the U.S. Public Health Service recommended that all women of childbearing age capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid daily to prevent neural tube defects. Research has shown that a woman’s intake of folic acid prior to conception and throughout the first few weeks of pregnancy can prevent many neural tube defects.
Environmental Health Lab Detects Low Folate Levels
Watch a video to hear individuals with spina bifida and their parents talk about living with neural tube defects.
Folate is a type of B vitamin known to be especially important when cells rapidly divide and grow during pregnancy and infancy. Folate occurs naturally in leafy green vegetables, fruits, and dried beans and peas. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate used in supplements and added to fortify foods.
In the mid 1990’s, NCEH’s Environmental Health Laboratory used blood samples collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to measure folate levels in the U.S. population. CDC found that folate levels were particularly low in women of childbearing age. CDC scientists were concerned because they knew that low folate levels were linked to neural tube defects.
