Folic Acid and the Prevention of Birth Defects: 30 Years of Opportunity and Controversies

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Annu Rev Nutr
• Personal Author:
  Crider, Krista S. ; Qi, Yan Ping ; Yeung, Lorraine F. ; Mai, Cara T. ; Zauche, Lauren Head ; Wang, Arick ; Daniels, Kelicia ; Williams, Jennifer L.
• Description:
  For three decades, the US Public Health Service has recommended that all persons capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 μg/day of folic acid (FA) to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs). The neural tube forms by 28 days after conception. Fortification can be an effective NTD prevention strategy in populations with limited access to folic acid foods and/or supplements. This review describes the status of mandatory FA fortification among countries that fortify (| = 71) and the research describing the impact of those programs on NTD rates (up to 78% reduction), blood folate concentrations [red blood cell folate concentrations increased ∼1.47-fold (95% CI, 1.27, 1.70) following fortification], and other health outcomes. Across settings, high-quality studies such as those with randomized exposures (e.g., randomized controlled trials, Mendelian randomization studies) are needed to elucidate interactions of FA with vitamin B| as well as expanded biomarker testing.
• Subjects:
  Article Dietary Supplements Female Folic Acid Food, Fortified Fortification Humans Meta-analysis Neural Tube Defects Pregnancy VB12 Vitamin B 12

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• Source:
  Annu Rev Nutr. 42:423-452
• Pubmed ID:
  35995050
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9875360
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  42
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5dc78bc080771c37867e534663fd89d17792204b9df902f548ddf96943993474
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/124060/cdc_124060_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.40 MB ]