Table of Contents
FDA Consumer magazine
March-April 1999
Efforts to encourage women to consume adequate folic acid in their childbearing years have not brought the desired results, according to a 1998 March of Dimes national survey of more than 2,000 women between the ages of 18 and 45. Although more women now know about the need for folic acid than did in 1995, "there has been no corresponding increase in the number of women taking multivitamins every day," according to the March of Dimes. Folic acid, or folate, is a B vitamin that can help reduce the risk of having a baby with certain birth defects of the brain and spine. The chart below shows that 52 percent of women had heard about folic acid in 1995, 68 percent had heard about folic acid in 1998, 29 percent who are not currently pregnant take a multivitamin containing folic acid, 13 percent know folic acid helps prevent birth defects, and 7 percent know folic acid should be taken before birth.
