Georgia Folic Acid Task Force As a health care professional, you have
the ability to influence and encourage good health habits.
You can play a vital role in helping to prevent very serious
birth defects. Talk to
your patients about folic acid, an important B vitamin. The U.S.
Public Health Service reminds us that all women who can become
pregnant need 400 mcg of folic acid every day, before and during
pregnancy. This amount of
folic acid, when taken every day, can prevent up to 70% of very
serious birth defects of the brain and spine.
You may know these birth defects as spina bifida and
anencephaly, but don’t let your patients find out about them once
it’s too late. Over
half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and these
potentially fatal birth defects happen before most women even know for
sure that they are pregnant. That
is why taking 400 mcg of folic acid every single day, whether planning
a pregnancy or not, is a health habit you should remind your patients
to practice. Getting enough folic acid every day is
easy. Encourage your
patients to take a multivitamin or folic acid-only vitamin every day. Or, show them where on the label to look to find a breakfast
cereal that has 400 mcg or 100% of the Daily Recommended Value of
folic acid, and encourage them to eat a serving each morning. Remind with your patients about folic acid every time you see
them to incorporate this healthy habit into their daily routine! Remember, synthetic folic acid is used
more efficiently by the body than is food folate.
A healthy diet of folate-rich fruits and vegetables like citrus
fruit, leafy greens, and beans should be complemented with a folic
acid supplement or breakfast cereal enriched with 100% of folic acid. This reminder is brought to you by the
Georgia Folic Acid Task Force. Thank
you for all you do! For
more information about folic acid and healthy babies or to order free
educational materials visit the websites below: http://www.sph.emory.edu/gafolic/consumer_page1.htm http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/ http://www.ph.dhr.state.ga.us/publications/healthyliving/healthyliving6.shtml
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