Delaying mandatory folic acid fortification policy perpetuates health inequalities: results from a retrospective study of postpartum New Zealand women
Authors: Mallard SR et al
Summary: These researchers surveyed 758 postpartum women in hospitals and
birthing centres across New Zealand about folic supplement use and bread intake
in the periconceptional period. Criteria for the adequate intake of folic acid through
proposed mandatory fortification were the habitual consumption of three or more
slices of bread/day (118–150 μg folic acid/day) in the month prior to conception, and
during the first trimester of pregnancy. Thirty-three percent of women reported having
used folic acid supplements as recommended during the periconceptional period;
with mandatory fortification, the proportion of women who would have achieved
adequate folic acid intake increased to 59%. In a model of mandatory fortification,
sociodemographic predictors of poor folic acid intake from supplements, including
younger maternal age, increasing parity, minority ethnicity status, lower education and
less income, were rendered either non-significant or appreciably attenuated. The fully
adjusted odds ratio for pregnancy planning was reduced from 17.24 to 2.61 (both
p<0.001).
Reference: Hum Reprod. 2012;27(1):273-82.
Abstract
Our lands, our waters, our people
Authors: Hutchings J
Summary: This editorial describes the development of a special indigenous issue of
New Genetics and Society, a collection of writings that were collated to inform and
speak to a global audience at large about some of the critical issues facing indigenous
communities with regard to science technology and society (STS). The Editorial states
that the collection contributes to a broadening of our thinking about the issues of new
genetics and indigenous peoples, and facilitates the emergence of critical indigenous
voices in STS discourses.
Reference: New Genet Soc. 2012:31(1):1-9.
Abstract