Spina Bifida Prevalence In Brazil And Brazilian Regions And Presumed Intake Of Folic Acid

Introduction: The addition of folic acid - FA to wheat and corn flour for prevention of neural tube defects NTD, was established in Brazil in June 2004. Spina bifida - SB is one of these disorders. This study evaluated the impact of the addition of FA to flours based on SB prevalence. Methodology: For Brazil and Brazilian regions prevalence and prevalence ratios - PR calculations for SB were made for 10,000 live births between the periods of 2000-2004 and 2008-2012 using data from the live birth information System - SINASC. Flour intake was obtained from the Household Budget Survey - POF conducted in 2008 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics - IBGE, which investigates the annual per capita amount of food purchased according to product type, in a sample of households. For each region consumption of flour and its by-products was selected. Based on the Brazilian standard addition of 0.15mg of FA for each 100g of flour we calculated the assumed intake of FA presuming full compliance to the l...