Healthy Communities
By Chrystal Johnson
(Wampsville, NY – Jan. 2013) January hosts Folic Acid Awareness Week, which is a time to raise awareness that healthy lifestyle choices before and during pregnancy can reduce the risk for many types of birth defects. In fact, simply getting enough folic acid each day before and during pregnancy can help prevent up to 70 percent of some major birth defects of the brain and spine, called neural tube defects.
Neural tube defects happen when the spinal cord fails to close properly. The most common type is spina bifida. This occurs when part of the baby’s spinal cord remains outside the body. The baby may have paralyzed legs and, later, may develop bladder and bowel control problems. The most serious neural tube defect is anencephaly. The baby is born without part of its skull and brain, and eventually dies.
The good news is that folic acid can be found in many foods and multivitamin supplements. There are three ways women can get enough folic acid:
Take a vitamin supplement containing 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, or
Eat a fortified breakfast cereal daily which contains 100 percent of the recommended daily amount of folic acid (400 micrograms).
Increase eating foods with folic acid, such as orange juice and green vegetables.
No matter what your age, foods rich in folic acid are good for you. Even young girls should try to get enough folic acid every day. That way, when you’re older and planning to become a mother, folic acid will already be a part of your diet.
There are other valuable benefits to getting enough folic acid. It helps your body make healthy new cells, which means healthier skin, hair and nails. Folic acid may also help protect you from having a stroke and help lower your chances of getting heart disease and some types of cancers.
All women need folic acid because it works best for you and your baby early in the first month of pregnancy, a time when you may not even know you’re pregnant. Continued use of folic acid after the first month of pregnancy, and throughout your life, ensures the future good health of you and your family.
Read food and vitamin labels carefully to be sure you’re getting enough folic acid. On the labels, folic acid is also called “folate.” The amount of folic acid or folate in a vitamin or food may be given as either 400 micrograms or 0.4 mg. They are the same amounts.
For more information on how to prevent birth defects, visit www.healthymadisoncounty.org and click on Health Information.
Chrystal Johnson is a public health educator II for Madison County.