Awareness of the role of folic acid, dietary folate intake and plasma folate concentration in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate awareness of the role of folic acid in the prevention of neural tube defects, dietary intake of folate, and plasma folate concentration.


METHODS
Postal questionnaires were collected from 1190 lay female subjects in three different groups and from seven groups of 3067 health-care providers. Dietary folate was investigated by assessing food frequency charts that were kept for 3 days by 245 women, and plasma folate was assessed by analyzing the blood serum of 194 women.


RESULTS
Less than 15% of citizens and mothers who had live births knew that there was a link between folic acid and neural tube defects. The exception was with myelodysplastic families, in which awareness was 92%. Awareness among health-care professionals was generally low. The highest level was found in obstetricians-gynecologists (76%) and the lowest in nurses (12%). Dietary folate intake and plasma concentration were highest in pregnant women (356 microg/day and 11.9 ng/mL) and the lowest in student nurses (217 microg/day and 6.8 ng/mL). When the recommended dietary allowance of folate in Japan is taken into consideration, 22% of the non-pregnant women and 71% of the pregnant women did not fulfill the recommended dietary allowance.


CONCLUSIONS
Information on the role of periconceptional intake of folic acid is not sufficiently disseminated to young women and health-care professionals alike. Pregnant women should be repeatedly recommended to take folic acid supplements of 400 microg/day.
Kondo
Atsuo
A
Department of Urology, Komaki Shimin Hospital, Komaki, Japan. akondo@fj8.so-net.ne.jp
Kamihira
Osamu
O
Shimosuka
Yoichi
Y
Okai
Ikuyo
I
Gotoh
Momokazu
M
Ozawa
Hideo
H
D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D006176:Gynecology; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000209:etiology; D009726:Nurses; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009774:Obstetrics; D010820:Physicians; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D005492:Folic Acid