1. Maternal Obesity and Pre-Pregnancy Folic Acid Supplementation
- Author
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Nadine Farah, Cormac Kennedy, Ciara Turner, Vicky O'Dwyer, Mairead M. Kennelly, and Michael J. Turner
- Subjects
Maternal obesity ,Pre-pregnancy folic acid ,Body mass index ,Unplanned pregnancy ,Nutrition. Foods and food supply ,TX341-641 ,Nutritional diseases. Deficiency diseases ,RC620-627 - Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this nested cohort study was to compare the rate of pre-pregnancy supplementation in obese women with that of women with a normal BMI. Methods: Pregnant women were enrolled at their convenience in a large university hospital. Weight and height were measured in the first trimester and BMI categorised. Results: Of the 288 women, 35.1% were in the normal, 29.5% in the overweight and 35.4% in the obese BMI categories. Only 45.1% (n = 46) of the obese women took pre-pregnancy folic acid compared with 60.4% (n = 61) of women with a normal BMI (p Conclusions: Obese women should take folate supplements whether they are planning to conceive or not.
- Published
- 2013
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