Folic Acid Necessary For Preventing Neural Tube Defects

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Author: News Canada

(NC)-With June being National Spina Bifida Awareness Month, it's a great opportunity for Canadians to become educated on the importance of folic acid for healthy infants. In Canada, it is estimated that four out of every 1,000 children born will have a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida. Spina bifida occurs when the lower end of the neural tube fails to close resulting in abnormal growth in the spinal cord and backbone. Most infants born with this condition survive, although the degree of disability differs. Since many pregnancies are unplanned, physicians recommend that all women of childbearing age should take a daily multivitamin containing a minimum of 0.4 milligrams of folic acid to reduce the risk of spina bifida and other birth defects.

The following tips may help women get enough folic acid and prevent spina bifida and other neural tube defects:

1. Eat a fortified breakfast cereal that contains folic acid;

2. Eat foods that are high in folic acid, such as dark green leafy vegetables, bananas, nuts and asparagus. Also, eat foods that are fortified with folic acid, such as certain breads, rice or pasta;

3. Take a daily multivitamin supplement, such as Centrum Forte® that contains 0.6 milligrams of folic acid.

About The Author News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web. News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

This article was posted on August 7, 2002