Dataset Information

Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland-A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Folate plays an essential role in the prevention of neural tube defects, yet little is known about the folate status of women of reproductive age or to what degree the general population is aware of the importance of folate in early-life development. We aimed to determine folate status in women of reproductive age and pregnant women in Switzerland, and to assess folate awareness in the Swiss population.

Methods

In a convenience sample of 171 women of reproductive age and 177 pregnant women throughout Switzerland, we measured red blood cell (RBC) folate concentration. In a second convenience sample (n = 784, men and women) we assessed folate knowledge with an online survey.

Results

RBC folate concentration (median interquartile range) was 442 (366, 564) nmol/L in women of reproductive age and 873 (677, 1177) nmol/L in pregnant women. Folate deficiency (RBC folate <340 nmol/L) was found in 19.9% of women of reproductive age and 2.8% of pregnant women, while 91.8% of women of reproductive age and 52.0% of pregnant women showed folate concentrations indicating an elevated risk of neural tube defects (RBC folate <906 nmol/L). The online survey showed that a high proportion (?88%) of participants were aware of folate's role in neural tube defect (NTD) prevention and fetal development, yet knowledge about dietary sources and national recommendations of folate supplementation when planning pregnancy were limited.

Conclusion

The high prevalence of folate inadequacy in Swiss women suggests an elevated risk of neural tube defects and calls for urgent measures to increase folate intakes.

SUBMITTER: Herter-Aeberli I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7761771 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland-A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes.

Herter-Aeberli Isabelle I Wehrli Nina N Bärlocher Kurt K Andersson Maria M Sych Janice J

Nutrients 20201203 12

<h4>Background</h4>Folate plays an essential role in the prevention of neural tube defects, yet little is known about the folate status of women of reproductive age or to what degree the general population is aware of the importance of folate in early-life development. We aimed to determine folate status in women of reproductive age and pregnant women in Switzerland, and to assess folate awareness in the Swiss population.<h4>Methods</h4>In a convenience sample of 171 women of reproductive age an ...[more]

PMID: 33287229

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Project description:BackgroundThe outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed stress on the health and well-being of both Chinese people and the public worldwide. Global public interest in this new issue largely reflects people's attention to COVID-19 and their willingness to take precautionary actions. This study aimed to examine global public awareness of COVID-19 using Google Trends.MethodsUsing Google Trends, we retrieved public query data for terms of "2019-nCoV + SARS-CoV-2 + novel coronavirus?+?new coronavirus + COVID-19 + Corona Virus Disease 2019" between the 31st December 2019 and the 24th February 2020 in six major English-speaking countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Dynamic series analysis demonstrates the overall change trend of relative search volume (RSV) for the topic on COVID-19. We compared the top-ranking related queries and sub-regions distribution of RSV about COVID-19 across different countries. The correlation between daily search volumes on the topic related to COVID-19 and the daily number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 was analyzed.ResultsThe overall search trend of RSV regarding COVID-19 increased during the early period of observing time and reached the first apex on 31st January 2020. A shorter response time and a longer duration of public attention to COVID-19 was observed in public from the USA, the UK, Australia, and Canada, than that in Ireland and New Zealand. A slightly positive correlation between daily RSV about COVID-19 and the daily number of confirmed cases was observed (P?<?0.05). People across countries presented a various interest to the RSV on COVID-19, and public awareness of COVID-19 was different in various sub-regions within countries.ConclusionsThe results suggest that public response time to COVID-19 was different across countries, and the overall duration of public attention was short. The current study reminds us that governments should strengthen the publicity of COVID-19 nationally, strengthen the public's vigilance and sensitivity to COVID-19, inform public the importance of protecting themselves with enough precautionary measures, and finally control the spread of COVID-19 globally.

Dataset Information

Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland-A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland-A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes.

Similar Datasets

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