By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281Source(s):
Gail Rampersaud gcr@ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1978 ext. 423
Gail Kauwell gpk@ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1991 ext. 227
Ron Lutz rlutz@ufl.edu, (352) 392-1978 ext. 406
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — To help educate health care professionals about the importance of folic acid in women’s diets, the March of Dimes Florida Chapter has awarded a $49,400 grant to the University of Florida.
The funds are being used by the Florida Folic Acid Coalition, based in UF’s food science and human nutrition department, to encourage women to take 400 micrograms of the vitamin every day to help reduce their risk of having a baby with serious birth defects of the brain and spine, also known as neural tube defects.
Gail Rampersaud, a registered dietitian and assistant in nutrition research and education at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, said an estimated 50 to 70 percent of neural tube defects could be prevented if all women of childbearing age took folic acid every day. She said research shows the vitamin may also reduce the risk of other types of birth defects, including defects of the heart, face and limbs.
Despite ongoing education efforts, less than one- half of women age 18 to 45 years in the United States and Florida take folic acid on a daily basis. Rampersaud said healthcare providers are a vital link in helping promote folic acid awareness and use among women in Florida.
“However, a survey of healthcare professionals in Florida found that less than two-thirds of pediatricians and family physicians in Florida knew the specific folic acid recommendations, and one- half or fewer recommended folic acid to their female patients of childbearing age all or most of the time,” she said. “These data indicate a need for ongoing and continued education of healthcare providers regarding folic acid health benefits and recommendations.”
With the help of the March of Dimes grant, existing folic acid educational materials will be updated and training will be conducted at healthcare sites in Florida. Rampersaud said the coalition will also develop a Web- based training module on its Web site http://www.FolicAcidNow.net
Other educational activities include staffing exhibit booths at healthcare provider meetings in Florida to distribute materials, producing and distributing folic acid newsletters to healthcare providers in Florida, and distributing folic acid “starter kits” to healthcare providers for their patients.
Rampersaud said the starter kits include multivitamins with folic acid along with other folic acid-themed items. The effort is being coordinated with the statewide VitaGrant project (http://www.doh.state.fl.us/family/mch/vg/vg.html), a three-year program spearheaded by the Florida Department of Health and March of Dimes Florida Chapter to distribute 450,000 bottles of free multivitamins containing folic acid to underserved women in Florida.
“Almost 50 percent of the pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, so women need to take folic acid every day,” Rampersaud said. “Women can readily meet folic acid intake recommendations by taking a multivitamin with folic acid or eating folic acid-fortified grain foods. Women also should eat foods containing the natural form of folic acid — called food folate — including orange juice, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes such as dried beans and peas, and strawberries.”
Since 1998, the Food and Drug Administration has required the addition of folic acid to enriched cereal grain products such as breads, cereals, flours, pastas, rice and other grain products. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fortification has helped reduce the rates of neural tube defects by approximately 26 percent.
This grant-funded project will be overseen by Rampersaud and Gail Kauwell, a professor in the UF food science and human nutrition department and folate researcher. Kauwell said about 3,000 babies in the United States, including 97 babies in Florida, are born each year with a neural tube defect, resulting in substantial emotional and financial impacts on affected families. Although many women are aware of folic acid, less than half take a multivitamin containing folic acid every day.
“Taking a multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid every day is such a simple thing for women to do to increase the chances that they’ll have a healthy baby someday,” she said. “Emerging research shows that folic acid may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. So the benefits of getting enough folic acid every day extend beyond those associated with neural tube defect risk reduction,” Kauwell said.
The coalition works closely with the National Council on Folic Acid in Alexandria, Va. Other coalition members include the Florida Department of Health, the March of Dimes Florida Chapter, the Florida Birth Defects Registry and the University of South Florida Birth Defects Center.
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