by Maureen Salamon, Healthday Reporter
Unfortified corn masa flour may contribute to neural tube defects, March of Dimes says.
(HealthDay)—Hispanic mothers are at especially high risk of having newborns with serious birth defects of the brain and spine called neural tube defects, according to a new report.
Also, more babies are born prematurely to Hispanics than women of other ethnicities, the March of Dimes report states.
This report, updating a similar 2008 paper by the nonprofit foundation, also highlights the fact that a greater proportion of Hispanic women have babies each year than any other population in the United States, making it the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country.
"One of the things that caught our eye was, while Hispanics represent 17 percent of the population, 24 percent of premature babies are Hispanic," said Dr. Edward McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the March of Dimes, an organization aimed at improving the health of mothers and babies.
Hispanic women may be more prone to giving birth prematurely—defined as before the 37th week of pregnancy—because of risk factors such as being three times as likely as white mothers to be younger than 17 years old. They are also less likely to have graduated from high school and more likely to lack health insurance. The rate of preterm births among Hispanics was about 12 percent higher than that of white mothers in 2012, the report said.
Neural tube defects, which include conditions such as spina bifida and anencephaly, are malformations of the brain and spinal cord that can cause death or disability.
Experts suggested that Hispanic mothers are significantly more likely to give birth to babies with these birth defects than white or black women because corn masa flour is a staple of the diet of a majority of Hispanics. Corn masa flour, used to make tortillas and other foods, is not fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin that can help prevent neural tube defects. Wheat flour manufacturers are required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fortify that type of flour with folic acid, also called folate.
Also, Hispanic women are less likely to report taking a multivitamin containing folic acid prior to becoming pregnant, according to the report.
"This is why the March of Dimes is striving to have masa cornmeal fortified with folate," said Dr. Diana Ramos, an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.
"Corn masa flour is not part of the standard American diet, so, since 2012, we've been working on this, making progress slowly," added Ramos, co-chair of the newly established March of Dimes Hispanic Advisory Council.
McCabe said the March of Dimes has launched a Spanish-language site, Nacersano.org, that offers information about the specific health needs of Hispanics. He said a variety of outreach efforts, including the website and new advisory council, are needed to help raise awareness in the Hispanic community about the need for folic acid consumption and prenatal health.
Other health literacy efforts aimed at Hispanics should focus on tackling smoking, obesity and type 2 diabetes, he said.
"By 2050, it's projected that 30 percent of the population of women of childbearing age will be Hispanic," he said. "Clearly, it's a growing population."
Explore further: Two-thirds of women not taking folic acid before pregnancy to prevent spina bifida
More information: The Nemours Foundation has more about birth defects.
Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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© Medical Xpress 2011-2014, Science X network
by Maureen Salamon, Healthday Reporter
Unfortified corn masa flour may contribute to neural tube defects, March of Dimes says.
(HealthDay)—Hispanic mothers are at especially high risk of having newborns with serious birth defects of the brain and spine called neural tube defects, according to a new report.
Also, more babies are born prematurely to Hispanics than women of other ethnicities, the March of Dimes report states.
This report, updating a similar 2008 paper by the nonprofit foundation, also highlights the fact that a greater proportion of Hispanic women have babies each year than any other population in the United States, making it the fastest-growing ethnic group in the country.
"One of the things that caught our eye was, while Hispanics represent 17 percent of the population, 24 percent of premature babies are Hispanic," said Dr. Edward McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the March of Dimes, an organization aimed at improving the health of mothers and babies.
Hispanic women may be more prone to giving birth prematurely—defined as before the 37th week of pregnancy—because of risk factors such as being three times as likely as white mothers to be younger than 17 years old. They are also less likely to have graduated from high school and more likely to lack health insurance. The rate of preterm births among Hispanics was about 12 percent higher than that of white mothers in 2012, the report said.
Neural tube defects, which include conditions such as spina bifida and anencephaly, are malformations of the brain and spinal cord that can cause death or disability.
Experts suggested that Hispanic mothers are significantly more likely to give birth to babies with these birth defects than white or black women because corn masa flour is a staple of the diet of a majority of Hispanics. Corn masa flour, used to make tortillas and other foods, is not fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin that can help prevent neural tube defects. Wheat flour manufacturers are required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fortify that type of flour with folic acid, also called folate.
Also, Hispanic women are less likely to report taking a multivitamin containing folic acid prior to becoming pregnant, according to the report.
"This is why the March of Dimes is striving to have masa cornmeal fortified with folate," said Dr. Diana Ramos, an associate clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles.
"Corn masa flour is not part of the standard American diet, so, since 2012, we've been working on this, making progress slowly," added Ramos, co-chair of the newly established March of Dimes Hispanic Advisory Council.
McCabe said the March of Dimes has launched a Spanish-language site, Nacersano.org, that offers information about the specific health needs of Hispanics. He said a variety of outreach efforts, including the website and new advisory council, are needed to help raise awareness in the Hispanic community about the need for folic acid consumption and prenatal health.
Other health literacy efforts aimed at Hispanics should focus on tackling smoking, obesity and type 2 diabetes, he said.
"By 2050, it's projected that 30 percent of the population of women of childbearing age will be Hispanic," he said. "Clearly, it's a growing population."
Explore further: Two-thirds of women not taking folic acid before pregnancy to prevent spina bifida
More information: The Nemours Foundation has more about birth defects.
Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Medical Xpress on facebook
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Fortifying corn masa flour with folic acid could prevent birth defects, March of Dimes says
Jun 16, 2011
Fortifying corn masa flour with the B vitamin folic acid could prevent more serious birth defects of the brain and spine in the Hispanic community, according to a March of Dimes commentary published in the American Journal of ...
Folic acid survey of Spanish-speaking women finds most are missing benefits
Jan 05, 2009
Only 17 percent of Spanish-speaking women of childbearing age in the United States are taking a multivitamin containing folic acid daily, according to the first- nationally representative folic acid awareness survey to focus ...
Two-thirds of women not taking folic acid before pregnancy to prevent spina bifida
Feb 19, 2014
Research published today from Queen Mary University of London reveals less than 1 in 3 women have taken folic acid supplements before pregnancy to prevent spina bifida and other birth defects of the brain, spine, or spinal ...
US preterm birth rate drops to 15-year low
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Six states – Alaska, California, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont – earned an "A" on the March of Dimes 2013 Premature Birth Report Card as their preterm birth rates met the March of Dimes 9.6 ...
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Blood test distinguishes premature births from 'false alarms'
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Women who give spontaneous preterm birth have specific genetic signatures which doctors can now detect with a simple blood test.
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Prepregnancy folate may reduce spontaneous abortion risk
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(HealthDay)—Prepregancy folate intake, particularly from supplements, is associated with a reduced risk of spontaneous abortion, according to a study published online June 4 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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One in 200 babies dies before birth in the UK. A study aimed at determining how to reduce the risk of a pregnancy coming to a devastating end is now producing its first results.
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Queensland women have higher odds of having a caesarean section than women of similar age and health in England, QUT's Dr Yvette Miller has found.
User comments
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