Poll Finds Folic Acid Awareness High, But Women Still Not Taking It
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Almost 70 percent of American women of childbearing age fail to take the B vitamin folic acid every day even though many of them are aware it helps prevent birth defects, according to the latest survey released in June 2002 by the March of Dimes.
The survey found that only 31 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 45 who are not currently pregnant take a daily multivitamin containing folic acid. The figure has increased only slightly since 1995, the first year the March of Dimes surveyed women. This is despite the fact that 80 percent of all women of childbearing age now say they are aware of folic acid, up from 52 percent in 1995.
A comparison of seven annual surveys conducted nationally by The Gallup Organization for the March of Dimes also shows that the number of women who know that folic acid must be consumed before pregnancy has increased to 10 percent in 2002, up from only 2 percent in 1995. Those who know that folic acid prevents birth defects has increased to 20 percent in 2002, up from only 4 percent in 1995.
A separate study conducted by The Gallup Organization for the March of Dimes focusing on folic acid awareness in individual states, showed that in Oregon 30 percent of of women of child-bearing age, 18-44, report taking a vitamin with folic acid daily. In Oregon, 69 percent of women 18-44 report being aware of folic acid.
Daily consumption of the vitamin beginning before pregnancy is crucial because serious birth defects of the brain and spine known as neural tube defects (NTDs) occur in the early weeks following conception, often before a woman knows she is pregnant.
Importance of Physician Advice
Women who said they did not consume folic acid daily were asked whether they would take the vitamin if their physician or other health care provider recommended it. More than half (53 percent) said they would be very likely to do so, with another 37 percent saying they would be somewhat likely.
Each year, an estimated 2,500 babies are born with NTDs, and many additional affected pregnancies result in miscarriage or stillbirth. The most common NTD is spina bifida, a leading cause of childhood paralysis. Another NTD is anencephaly, a fatal condition in which a baby is born with a severely underdeveloped brain and skull.
To help prevent NTDs, all women capable of having a baby should consume a multivitamin containing 400 micrograms of folic acid every day beginning before pregnancy, as part of a healthy diet containing foods with folic acid, such as leafy green vegetables, orange juice, peanuts, beans, and fortified grains.
The survey was conducted for the March of Dimes by The Gallup Organization under a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
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