Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland—A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Folate Status in WRA and PW in Switzerland
2.1.1. Study Design
2.1.2. Participants
2.1.3. Study Procedures
2.2. Folate Knowledge in the Swiss Population
2.2.1. Questionnaire
2.2.2. Study Procedures
2.3. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Folate Status in WRA and PW in Switzerland
3.2. Folate Knowledge in the Swiss Population
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Women of Reproductive Age | Pregnant Women | |
---|---|---|
n | 171 | 177 |
Age (year) 1 | 31.4 (25.0, 36.5) | 32.2 (29.7, 35.1) |
1st/2nd/3rd trimester (n) | – | 20/78/79 |
% taking folate supplements | 11.1 | 82.5 |
Red blood cell folate (nmol/L) 1 | 442 (366, 564) | 873 (677, 1177) |
% RBC folate <340 nmol/L | 19.9 (n = 34) | 2.8 (n = 5) |
% RBC folate <906 nmol/L | 91.8 (n = 157) | 52.0 (n = 92) |
Total | Women | Men | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | % | n | % | n | % | |
Total | 784 | 100 | 482 | 61 | 302 | 39 |
Nationality | ||||||
Swiss | 634 | 81 | 385 | 80 | 249 | 82 |
Non–Swiss | 150 | 19 | 97 | 20 | 53 | 18 |
Education | ||||||
No school degree | 4 | 0.5 | 3 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.3 |
No tertiary degree | 148 | 19 | 66 | 14 | 82 | 27 |
Tertiary degree | 632 | 81 | 413 | 86 | 219 | 73 |
Monthly income | ||||||
No answer | 85 | 11 | 52 | 11 | 33 | 11 |
<CHF 6000 | 175 | 22 | 111 | 23 | 64 | 21 |
≥CHF 6000 | 524 | 67 | 319 | 66 | 205 | 68 |
Diet | ||||||
Special diet * | 153 | 20 | 102 | 21 | 51 | 17 |
No special diet | 631 | 80 | 380 | 79 | 251 | 83 |
Nutritional awareness | ||||||
Low | 191 | 24 | 64 | 13 | 127 | 42 |
Medium | 352 | 45 | 218 | 45 | 134 | 44 |
High | 241 | 31 | 200 | 42 | 41 | 14 |
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Herter-Aeberli, I.; Wehrli, N.; Bärlocher, K.; Andersson, M.; Sych, J. Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland—A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes. Nutrients 2020, 12, 3729. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123729
Herter-Aeberli I, Wehrli N, Bärlocher K, Andersson M, Sych J. Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland—A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes. Nutrients. 2020; 12(12):3729. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123729
Chicago/Turabian StyleHerter-Aeberli, Isabelle, Nina Wehrli, Kurt Bärlocher, Maria Andersson, and Janice Sych. 2020. "Inadequate Status and Low Awareness of Folate in Switzerland—A Call to Strengthen Public Health Measures to Ensure Sufficient Intakes" Nutrients 12, no. 12: 3729. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123729