Abstract

There is concern that during a low-risk pregnancy, women are consuming more than recommended (400 ptg/day) supplemental folic acid and may not meet recommendations for other nutrients. The objective of this study was to determine folic acid supplement use and dietary folate intakes in the second trimester (week 18) of pregnancy in women ( n = 2996) in the Canadian CHILD cohort study. Vitamin B12 and choline intakes were also assessed because they are metabolically related to folate. The majority of participants (71.6%) were consuming a daily prenatal supplement. Twenty-eight percent of women ( n = 847) reported consuming a folic acid supplement and of these women, 45.3% had daily supplemental folic acid intakes above the upper intake level (UL; 1000 ptg/day). Daily dietary folate intakes were (mean (SD)) 575 (235) DFE ptg/day. In contrast, only 24.8% of women met the dietary choline adequate intake (AI) recommendation (AI >= 450 mg/day) with a mean (SD) intake of 375 (151) mg/day. Further understanding of the impact of supplemental folic acid intake above the UL and low choline intake during pregnancy requires further investigation.