Spring 2001

Folic Acid Awareness

Le Ann Johnikin, BS, LD
Department of Family Medicine

The South Dakota Council on Folic Acid was recently formed to support the National Folic Acid Campaign. This council is headed by Cheri Freidel, Program Services Director, South Dakota Chapter of the March of Dimes, and Barbara Smith, former South Dakota Secretary of Health and a March of Dimes volunteer.

The mission of the council is to reduce birth defects in South Dakota by promoting the use of folic acid. Goals include increasing pregnancies not affected by neural tube defects, assuring that all health care professionals counsel women on the use of multivitamins with folic acid, and increasing media use of folic acid information.

Recent activities of the group include sending letters and a resource kit to primary care physicians; sending letters and a community action kit to eight nursing schools; sending letters, displays, and brochures to pharmacies; and providing public health information to organizations to distribute to Bright Start parents, Teddy Bear Den clients, marriage license recipients, college students and volunteers.

The March of Dimes and the U.S. Public Health service recommend that all women of childbearing age (15-44 years old) consume 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folic acid each day. Folic acid is crucial for a woman and her baby at least one month before the woman becomes pregnant, and through the first month of the pregnancy, a time when most women do not even know they are pregnant. Since half of the pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, all women of childbearing age should take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily.

How much folic acid does that mean to a typical woman? On average, a woman consumes half to two-thirds of the recommended amount of folic acid from her diet alone. To ensure that she gets 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, a woman can take a vitamin supplement containing folic acid, or eat a breakfast cereal containing 100 percent of the daily value of folic acid. As part of a healthy diet, the following are examples of foods that have smaller amounts of this B-vitamin: orange juices from concentrate, cantaloupe, kiwi, strawberries, romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and enriched cereals and grain products including breads, pasta, and rice.

The council has launched a public health campaign called ‘Project Healthy Baby’ to help reduce infant mortality and help ensure the birth of healthy babies in South Dakota. The South Dakota Florists Association will be participating as well during the month of May which has been designated Folic Acid Awareness Month. All women who receive flowers this Mother’s Day will also receive a special message with their bouquet. The florists will be urging all women of childbearing age to take a multivitamin with folic acid to reduce the risk of having a child born with serious birth defects.