Folic Acid Message Not Making Impact

A physician in England says it is taking too long to get out the message that folic acid prevents birth defects.

The lead author, Dr. Corina Mihaela Chivu, now at the Brunel University in London, conducted a systemic review of 31 studies looking at the promotion and use in young women of folic acid while at the National Institute for Research and Development in Health in Bucharest, Romania.

Chivu said folic acid is under-promoted by the media, under-recommended by doctors and underused by young women. Knowledge does not mean action because less than one-fourth of women who are aware of the importance of folic acid take supplements daily as public health guidelines advise, she says.

For the last six months in the United States no advertisement about folic acid in pregnancy has appeared on TV, Chivu says in a statement. Instead, ads promoting expensive and ineffective drugs appear daily.

She reports interventions within national campaigns didn’t persuade health professionals about the importance of counseling women on folic acid. For example, a Dutch study showed 25 percent of health professionals never advised women about folic acid, Chivu said.

The findings are published in the March/April issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.