The Association of Acculturation Factors with Biochemical Indices of Folate Status Among Mexican Americans 60 Years of Age or Older in the Post-Fortification Era: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2006

Abstract

Acculturation factors have been found to affect dietary intakes of folate among older Mexican Americans (MAs) (≥60 years). The association of acculturation with folate biomarkers is unknown. We determined whether acculturation factors were associated with folate biomarkers (e.g., serum folate, red blood cell [RBC] folate, and total homocysteine concentrations) and whether this association could be explained by dietary folate. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2006, we estimated that 42.8% and 40.1% of older MAs reported speaking Spanish all or most of the time or being born in Mexico, respectively (lower acculturation factors). Lower acculturation factors were not associated with total homocysteine concentrations but were, in general, associated with lower serum folate and RBC folate concentrations, but these associations were not always independent of factors such as sex, education, and poverty, and possibly were mediated by dietary and supplemental folate. Thus, the lower folate status observed among older MA with lower acculturation factors may be modifiable by changes in the intake of folic acid. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of the Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics for the following free supplemental resource: a table of the predictors of serum folate or red blood cell folate concentrations among Mexican Americans 60 years of age or older using country of origin or language preference, respectively, as acculturation factors, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2006.]