However, more than two-thirds of women in this age group don't have a "B" attitude, meaning they aren't taking a multivitamin every day to get the recommended 400 micrograms of the B vitamin, folic acid, to help prevent birth defects.

To make it easier for shoppers in about 20 southeast Michigan supermarkets to load up their carts with food and supplements rich in folic acid, the March of Dimes Michigan Chapter, the University of Michigan Health System's MFit Health Promotion Division and the U-M School of Public Health have teamed up for a second educational supermarket campaign called "Sisters Coming Together with the 'B' Attitude."

Like the 2001 supermarket campaign, “Great Expectations with Folic Acid,” this year’s program will again work to encourage women, especially African Americans, of childbearing age to take a daily multi-vitamin and increase interest to purchase and eat more food high in folic acid.

As part of this continued effort, signs are now on the shelves of some of the participating supermarkets near food and supplements that are good sources of folic acid – such as orange juice, beans, greens, and fortified cereal. In addition, participating supermarkets host in-store tastings and provide educational materials and expert advice from MFit for their shoppers.

Each year, more than 150,000 babies are born with birth defects, which is the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States. And African American women have the highest rate of infant mortality – which is why the focus of this year’s program is on this segment of the population.

"African Americans have twice the infant mortality rates compared to Caucasians,” says Holly Noble. “We need to do what we can to raise awareness about the importance of folic acid for all women and let them know what they can do to help prevent birth defects.”

Experts advise women to get enough folic acid each day during their childbearing years since some birth defects occur very early in pregnancy, often before a woman knows she's pregnant. Evidence suggests that half of neural tube birth defects, such as spina bifida, could be prevented if women got enough folic acid before pregnancy.

According to a recent survey done by the March of Dimes, only 14 percent of women of childbearing age know that folic acid prevents birth defects and only 10 percent know that folic acid should be taken before pregnancy. But after visiting the 2001 MFit folic acid campaign's educational display to learn about the importance of folic acid and taking part in a taste test, 62 percent of women said they would change their intake of folic acid.

Through programs like this, the U-M Health System is committed to working with local and state partners to create healthier communities.

MFit's other supermarket programs have already proven effective at raising awareness among shoppers of foods that are lower in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, and higher in dietary fiber. The folic acid supermarket campaign adds a specific consumer group target to the more general approach of existing MFit programs.

More than 50 stores currently participate in the MFit Shelf Labeling Program. A current list of stores can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.mfitnutrition.com/, under the Supermarket Program.

Written by: Krista Hopson