FOLIC ACID SUPPLEMENTATION PRACTICE IN EUROPE - PLENARY LECTURE

摘要

There are sparse data on supplementation practice related to folic acid (FAS). The prevalence of FAS usage in different European countries/areas varied from 10% to 43% among women before pregnancy, from 9% to 80% during pregnancy and from 0% to 53% inother population groups. With respect to public health, the results of this study indicate that there is a need to consider which strategy of increasing folates intake could be effective in demographic, cultural, economic etc. situation in each country.Because of the increased intake of folic acid there is a need for monitoring supplements and fortified food as the sources of this nutrient to determine exposure at the individual and population levels as well as some measurable health outcomes. It wasfound that a high intake of folic acid resulted in an increased level of this unmetabolizcd form in plasma, hence the use of [6S-]-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid, the natural circulating folate form, should be considered as a supplement and fortificant.