A recent editorial in JAMA Pediatrics has reinforced the importance of folic acid in the diet of pregnant women, and its value in preventing birth defects. Women who take 0.4 to 0.8 mg of folic acid daily, while pregnant, reduced their risk of having a child with a neural tube birth defect. This is significant towards prevention of birth defects, by adding folic acid daily to a pregnant mother’s diet.

Key Takeaways:

• Despite the mandatory addition of folic acid to enriched grain products in the United States, many women still do not consume adequate amounts of this important vitamin, according to a new editorial.
• Mitchell was invited to write the editorial for JAMA Pediatrics, which published it today during Folic Acid Awareness Week and January’s Birth Defects Prevention Month.
• Neural tube defects include anencephaly, a condition in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull, and spina bifida, which occurs when the spinal cord and the bones surrounding the spine do not form properly.

“Mitchell was invited to write the editorial for JAMA Pediatrics, which published it today during Folic Acid Awareness Week and January’s Birth Defects Prevention Month.”

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170110133536.htm