Sunday, April 06, 2008
Research
Women Unaware of Key Nutrients
Survey Finds Most Women Unaware of Key Nutrients, Especially Fish Oil, for Newborns
By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, September 19, 2006, abstracted from "Most Women Unaware of Key Nutrient Needed for Babies' Brain, Heart and Eye Development During Pregnancy" posted on the Society for Women's Health Research Website September 14, 2006. www.womenshealthresearch.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6097
When it comes to helping ensure the health of the newborn baby, research has consistently pointed to "The Big 3" nutrients as essential:
CALCIUM WITH VITAMIN D
The most recent recommendations by the Institute of Medicine is to supplement 1,000 of calcium and 200 IU of vitamin D per day to maintain strong bones1.
FOLIC ACID
After its addition to the food supply helped reduce Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) by 23% in the mid-1990's 2, both the FDA and the U.S. Public Health Service and Institute of Medicine recommend that all women capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 micrograms of folic acid per day3.
FISH OIL
As the primary fat found in the brain, EPA and DHA is also the fat in fish oil and is a very easy way to ensure that the mother provides the developing fetal brain with EPA and DHA. The current recommendations are for expecting mothers to supplement at least 300 mg per day of fish oil4.
But while the research and education programs have tried to increase awareness regarding these nutrients, a new survey conducted by the Society for Women's Health5 has found that most women only know about two of the "Big 3" nutrients (vitamin D and folic acid) while being unaware of the benefits of fish oil.
In the survey, less than 1 in 5 women (17%) were aware that fish is a source of DHA but 88% percent of respondents said they would be interested in purchasing a product that would help them get DHA without having to eat fish because of issues regarding mercury in fish. Fortunately, once advised of fish oil's benefits to both mother and child, more than nine out of ten (92%) said they would include fish oil in their diet while during pregnancy (92%).
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or visiting his website www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com.
Reference:
Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. 1997. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Spina Bifida and Anencephaly Before and After Folic Acid Mandate --- United States, 1995--1996 and 1999 2000 from MMWR Weekly 2004; 53(17): 362-365.
Recommendations for the Use of Folic Acid to Reduce the Number of Cases of Spina Bifida and Other Neural Tube Defects from MMWR Weekly 2004; 41(RR-14): 001.
Stark KD. Directly quantitated dietary (n-3) fatty acid intakes of pregnant Canadian women are lower than current dietary recommendations. J Nutr. 2005;135(2):206-11.
The public opinion survey on nutrients women need before, during and after pregnancy was conducted Aug. 23-31, 2006, by Kelton Research of Los Angeles, Calif., on behalf of the Society for Women's Health Research via telephone among a national representative sample of 500 women, 18 years of age or older, who have one or more children age 3 and under, are pregnant, or are nursing. The margin of error for the survey is +/-4.4 percentage points.