Mark Your Calendars, Latinas: National Folic Acid Awareness Week Is Coming Up!

The National Council on Folic Acid and the Spina Bifida Association of Illinois are making Hispanic women the focus of “National Folic Acid Awareness Week” (January 5th to January 11th) in order to increase awareness regarding the link between inadequate folic acid intake in Hispanic mothers and spinal defects in their babies. According to the groups, Hispanic mothers are twice as likely than any other race or ethnic group to give birth to a baby with brain or spinal defects.

Says Adriane Griffen, chair of the National Council on Folic Acid:

“We need to educate all women, especially Latinas, that folic acid can help prevent birth defects of the brain and spine.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also found that Latinas consume the least amount of folic acid and are less likely to be aware of its benefits. Some serious health information about folic acid, after the jump:

*Pregnant women and women of child-bearing age should consume at least 400mg of folic acid daily.

*Folic Acid is naturally found in cereals and grain products.

*The human body actually absorbs the synthetic form of folic acid better than the natural form, so multivitamins are recommended.

*Folic acid can prevent from 50% up to 70% of some forms of birth defects called neural tube defects (NTD).

*Spina bifida, the most common NTD, is the leading cause of childhood paralysis. Anencephaly, another type of NTD that affects the brain, is always fatal.

*Additional health benefits associated with folic acid include reductions in cardiovascular disease and colon, cervical and breast cancers.

Ya’ll, seriously. Eat more Coco Puffs, for the sake of your future progeny.

Health Facts about Folic Acid [Folic Acid Now]
Spine defect more likely in Hispanics [Belleville News-Democrat]