Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age

Folic acid (FA) given before and during pregnancy reduces the risk of several birth defects, including neurologic, cardiac, urinary and other congenital anomalies in the newborn. Several studies around the world showed less than satisfactory awareness and intake of this important vitamin. We underto...

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Autores principales:	Giselle Medawar, Tarek Wehbe, Elizabeth Abou Jaoude
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Ubiquity Press 2019
Materias:	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/98624fff8b30449486e2d0a5db1d1404
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:98624fff8b30449486e2d0a5db1d1404
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:98624fff8b30449486e2d0a5db1d14042021-12-02T06:48:52ZAwareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age2214-999610.5334/aogh.2396https://doaj.org/article/98624fff8b30449486e2d0a5db1d14042019-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/2396https://doaj.org/toc/2214-9996Folic acid (FA) given before and during pregnancy reduces the risk of several birth defects, including neurologic, cardiac, urinary and other congenital anomalies in the newborn. Several studies around the world showed less than satisfactory awareness and intake of this important vitamin. We undertook the task of exploring this question among Lebanese women of childbearing age. Between June and November 2014, we conducted this cross-sectional study on women aged 20 to 40 years. The subjects, who agreed to participate, completed a questionnaire, which included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, and knowledge about FA roles during pregnancy, as well as their babies’ health. Seventy-six percent reported having knowledge about FA during pregnancy, but only a small proportion knew the benefits for taking it. Also, 93.9% of women took FA supplements during pregnancy, however only 33.6% of the participants took FA before becoming aware of their pregnancy. Public health interventions to improve awareness of FA’s roles before and during pregnancy are crucial to curtail birth defects. It is our opinion that it is a very fruitful preventive medicine tool in which every community should invest.Giselle MedawarTarek WehbeElizabeth Abou JaoudeUbiquity PressarticleInfectious and parasitic diseasesRC109-216Public aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENAnnals of Global Health, Vol 85, Iss 1 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Giselle Medawar Tarek Wehbe Elizabeth Abou Jaoude Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age
description	Folic acid (FA) given before and during pregnancy reduces the risk of several birth defects, including neurologic, cardiac, urinary and other congenital anomalies in the newborn. Several studies around the world showed less than satisfactory awareness and intake of this important vitamin. We undertook the task of exploring this question among Lebanese women of childbearing age. Between June and November 2014, we conducted this cross-sectional study on women aged 20 to 40 years. The subjects, who agreed to participate, completed a questionnaire, which included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle, and knowledge about FA roles during pregnancy, as well as their babies’ health. Seventy-six percent reported having knowledge about FA during pregnancy, but only a small proportion knew the benefits for taking it. Also, 93.9% of women took FA supplements during pregnancy, however only 33.6% of the participants took FA before becoming aware of their pregnancy. Public health interventions to improve awareness of FA’s roles before and during pregnancy are crucial to curtail birth defects. It is our opinion that it is a very fruitful preventive medicine tool in which every community should invest.
format	article
author	Giselle Medawar Tarek Wehbe Elizabeth Abou Jaoude
author_facet	Giselle Medawar Tarek Wehbe Elizabeth Abou Jaoude
author_sort	Giselle Medawar
title	Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age
title_short	Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age
title_full	Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age
title_fullStr	Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age
title_full_unstemmed	Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age
title_sort	awareness and use of folic acid among women of childbearing age
publisher	Ubiquity Press
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/98624fff8b30449486e2d0a5db1d1404
work_keys_str_mv	AT gisellemedawar awarenessanduseoffolicacidamongwomenofchildbearingage AT tarekwehbe awarenessanduseoffolicacidamongwomenofchildbearingage AT elizabethaboujaoude awarenessanduseoffolicacidamongwomenofchildbearingage
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Awareness and Use of Folic Acid among Women of Childbearing Age

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