Abstract
The aim of this work was to assess folate status among Egyptian population as baseline data for iron/folic acid flour fortification program. Blood samples (1910) were collected for three target groups: mothers, adolescents (12-18yr) and children (6-<12yr), drawn from nine governorates representing four regions; Metropolitan (greater Cairo), Costal (Alexandria S Sharkia; and Behaira), and Upper Egypt (Bani-suif; Aswan; and Qena). Serum folate was determined using HPLC, and folate deficiency was defined at serum level <10 nmol/L according to WHO. Overall mean serum folate level was 13.4 nmol/L and folate deficiency identified among 13.7% of whole sample. Mothers and children were slightly more vulnerable for folate deficiency (14.7-14.9%) than adolescents (12.6%). Folate deficiency was significantly higher in Lower Egypt (23.1%) than Upper Egypt (14.7%), Metropolitan (7.4%) and Costal region (3.9%).
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