Take Your Vitamin Supplementwith Folic Acid

If you’re a young woman, take a vitamin supplement with folic acid.

Public health experts have been saying this for years, because folic acid _ a synthetic form of the B vitamin folate found in leafy green veggies _ can reduce the risk of brain and spinal cord birth defects by up to 70 percent.

Alas, only 12 percent of women ages 18 to 45 have heard about the benefits of folic acid, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among Hispanic women, awareness is even less, which the CDC says is why their children are 1.5 times to three times more likely to have a "neural tube" birth defect such as spina bifida than children of non-Hispanic white women.

The government recommends 400 micrograms a day of folate for everyone over 13, but 600 mcg. for pregnant women.

Since many pregnancies aren’t planned, it’s important for women of childbearing age to take a folic acid vitamin supplement just to be safe, said CDC epidemiologist Heather Hamner.

More information: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/index.htm