Folate Knowledge and Consumer Behaviour among Pregnant New Zealand Women Prior to the Potential Introduction of Mandatory Fortification

為了降低胎兒神經管缺陷的風險，紐西蘭衛生部建議婦女補充葉酸，至少從懷孕前的一個月直到懷孕12週，並多攝取富含葉酸的食物。可能在2012年5月執行強制麵包葉酸強化之前，從一個產後的調查來瞭解紐西蘭懷孕婦女的葉酸知識及消費行為。計畫懷孕的婦女對葉酸建議的知識越高，則葉酸的補充攝取也越多（直線趨勢p=0.001）。一些社會的次族群，甚至計畫懷孕者，未能在受孕前接收到充分的葉酸資訊；這些族群包括：毛利族婦女、太平洋裔及亞裔的婦女、年輕女性、大家庭的女性以及低教育程度或收入的婦女。被調查的全部婦女中，只有一半的人知道一些麵包中有添加葉酸，而這些女性中僅有少於2%的人在懷孕前會經由查看標籤，一貫地選擇自主葉酸強化麵包。61%的婦女指出他們或是支持強制強化或者對這件事情沒有意見，只有4%的人反對添加葉酸至麵包中。接近三分之一的女性（35%）贊成自主性強化。未來健康推廣活動應針對年輕、低教育程度、低收入、多產或少數民族的婦女。但是可能仍需要強制葉酸強化，以達到期望的公平性。

關鍵字

葉酸；神經管缺陷；強化；健康行為；營養政策

並列摘要

To reduce the risk of neural tube defects, the New Zealand Ministry of Health recommends women take supplemental folic acid from at least one month preconception until the end of the twelfth week of pregnancy, as well as consume folate-rich foods. A postpartum survey was conducted to describe folate knowledge and consumer behaviour among pregnant New Zealand women prior to the potential implementation of mandatory folic acid fortification of bread in May 2012. Increasing knowledge of folic acid recommendations was associated with higher supplement uptake among women who planned their pregnancies (p=0.001 for linear trend). Folic acid information failed to adequately reach some socio-demographic subgroups before conception, even when pregnancy was planned, including: indigenous Māori, Pacific and Asian women, younger women, women with large families, and women with lower educational attainment and income. Only half of all women surveyed knew some bread contained added folic acid, and among these women, less than 2% consistently chose voluntarily fortified bread during the periconceptional period by inspecting labels. Sixty-one percent of women indicated they were either in favour of mandatory fortification, or held no opinion on the matter, while 4% were opposed to the addition of folic acid to bread. Approximately one-third (35%) of women agreed with voluntary fortification. Future health promotion initiatives should be tailored toward women who are younger, less educated, with lower income, multiparous or of minority ethnicity status. Nonetheless, mandatory folic acid fortification may be required to attain the desired degree of equity.

並列關鍵字

folic acid ； neural tube defects ； fortification ； health behavior ； nutrition policy

國際替代計量

Folate Knowledge and Consumer Behaviour among Pregnant New Zealand Women Prior to the Potential Introduction of Mandatory Fortification

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