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Updated: May 26, 2026

Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
[Factors associated with folic acid use during pregnancy]
Lorena Barbosa1, Davianne de Queiroz Ribeiro, Flávio Cunha de Faria
1Faculdades Unidas do Vale do Araguaia, Barra do Garças, MT, Brasil.
Purpose:
To estimate the prevalence of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy and to identify maternal factors associated with its consumption.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study with 280 women from the city of Diamantina (MG), Brazil. The dependent variable was use of a folic acid supplement during pregnancy, and the independent variables were age and maternal schooling, number of prenatal care visits, parity, marital status and presence or absence of anemia. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the association of independent variables with the dependent variable.
Results:
Women with less education, adolescents, and number of prenatal visits less than seven were 1.61 (95%CI=1.34-1.93), 1.18 (95%CI=1.03-1.35) e 1.18 (95%CI=1.02-1.37) more likely not to consume the supplement during pregnancy, respectively.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of consumption of folic acid among pregnant women was low, associated with maternal age and education and number of prenatal visits.
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