[Folic acid intake of women in childbearing age]

M Thamm1, G B Mensink, W Thierfelder

  • 1Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin.

Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband Der Arzte Des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany))
|March 22, 2000
PubMed

An optimal maternal folate status reduces the risk of neural tube defects in the offspring. In the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey, red cell folate and serum folate levels have been measured in 1,266 women aged between 18 and 40 years. Applying the dietary assessment software DISHES 98 made it possible to estimate the individual folate intake. A high proportion of the participants showed sub-optimal red cell folate levels as well as folate intakes below the recommendations.

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