More than 50% of Pregnant Japanese Women with an Intake of 150 ^|^mu;g Dietary Folate per 1,000 kcal Can Maintain Values above the Cut-Off

Abstract

Summary Most Japanese pregnant women do not take the estimated average requirement (EAR) of folate for pregnant women, which is 400 mg/d. Nevertheless, folate deficiencies have not been reported. We examined biomarkers for evaluating the status of folate in pregnant Japanese women. Apparently healthy pregnant Japanese women were cross-sectionally recruited from a private obstetric hospital. We measured nutritional biomarkers of folate in these women, as well as their folate intake. The numbers of subjects were 230 (49, 62, and 81, and 38 in the first (up to 15 wk), second (16-30 wk), and third (over 31 wk) trimesters of pregnancy, and 1 mo after delivery, respectively). Folate intakes (medians) in the first, second, and third trimesters, and 1 mo after delivery were 2356147 (194), 226683 (218), and 256685 (254), and 3006105 (305) mg/d, respectively. Folate concentrations in plasma and erythrocytes appeared to be valid indicators for assessing folate status, with cutoff values of 7 nmol/L and 300 nmol/L, respectively. Plasma folate concentrations (medians) in the first, second, and third trimesters, and 1 mo after delivery were 17.669.6 (16.7), 12.468.3 (9.4), and 12.168.4 (9.4), and 10.768.9 (7.9) nmol/L, respectively. Each of the folate values was over the cut-off value. Erythrocyte folate concentrations (medians) in the first, second, and third trimesters, and 1 mo after delivery were 3586108 (365), 3896154 (365), and 3256150 (315), and 3086158 (276) nmol/L, respectively. Each of the folate values was near or over the cut-off value. In conclusion, the data obtained demonstrated that the estimated average requirement of folate for pregnant Japanese women was 250 mg/d.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Dietary and Genetic Predictors of Blood Folate Levels in Healthy Young Adults

“…It is unclear what specific factors would contribute to the over- or under-reporting of folate intake, but this remains a theoretical concern, and could potentially contribute to differences between reported folate intake in men and women. Though the use of quantitative estimates from such questionnaires has been previously reported in the literature [ 63 , 64 , 65 ], the definitive validation of such approaches for measuring long-term folate intake would require observation of the participant’s diet over a prolonged time not feasible for most studies [ 48 ]. Many suggest that such a comparison of quantitative nutrient estimates relative to dietary cutoffs is only an approximate unless individual variation is accounted for by modeling or in calibration studies [ 48 , 66 ].…”

Prevalence of and factors related to anemia among Japanese adult women: Secondary data analysis using health check-up database

“…Pregnant women with a tendency to be anemia may be at an increased risk of the condition during weeks 5–10 of gestation, the critical period of fetal organ development. Second, according to previous research, the nutritional intake of Japanese women during pregnancy is almost the same as before pregnancy despite the body’s increased demand for iron during pregnancy, which is lower than the nutritional intake recommended by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 9,10 . In addition, for women who have morning sickness, it can be difficult to take iron supplements during the early stage of pregnancy 11 .…”

Associations of maternal macronutrient intake during pregnancy with infant BMI peak characteristics and childhood BMI1–3

“…Q, quartile. pregnant populations in Japan (mean: 1720 kcal/d at .31 wk of gestation) and China (median: 1930 kcal/d at 21-24 of wk of gestation) (45,46). Means 6 SDs of carbohydrate and total sugar intakes during pregnancy in our cohort were 238 6 74 and 76 6 41 g, respectively; these amounts translated to percentages of energy contributions of 51.8% 6 8.6% and 16.2% 6 7.1%, respectively.…”