Awareness of the Benefit of Periconceptional Folic Acid Supplementation in South America

Abstract

Awareness of the benefit of periconceptional supplementation with folic acid was surveyed in 2,810 postpartum women by the Latin American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECLAMC) during 1996. While 48.8% of the women claimed to know that some vitamins were good for the baby in gestation, only 0.5% mentioned folic acid. Although 13.9% of the women declared to know about the beneficial role of folic acid, only 2.2% were able to mention a correct list of foods rich in folic acid. Women delivering in private (n = 1,065) hospitals had taken vitamins, including folic acid, and had heard about its beneficial role more frequently than those within the public system (n = 1,745). Nevertheless, the public series had a larger proportion of vitamin users who started taking vitamins during the first month of gestation. Women aged 20–34 years rated better than both age extremes in stating they had taken vitamins, in actually having taken vitamins, and in having taken vitamins including folic acid. There was no significant difference between age groups, as to the time of pregnancy when vitamins were started, nor to the women`s knowledge about beneficial vitamins. Adolescent women had the lowest awareness rate concerning folic acid (11%), when compared with the two older groups (15%). Based on these results, staple food fortification seems to be the recommended strategy for the prevention of birth defects in South America.