After law was enacted, prevalence of severe defects declined by 6 percent per year in Quebec
WEDNESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- After a Canadian law mandating the fortification of flour and pasta products with folate went into effect in 1998, the birth prevalence of severe congenital defects has decreased in Quebec, according to a study published online May 12 in BMJ.
Raluca Ionescu-Ittu, a Ph.D. candidate at McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues analyzed 1990 to 2005 data on over 1.3 million births, including 2,083 infants born with severe congenital heart defects, and conducted a time trend analysis.
During the nine years before the fortification law went into effect, the researchers found that the birth prevalence of severe congenital heart defects remained stable (rate ratio, 1.01). However, in the seven years after the law was enacted, they found that the prevalence declined by 6 percent per year (rate ratio, 0.94).
"Mandatory food fortification has reduced the prevalence of neural tube defects by about 9 percent, and Ionescu-Ittu and colleagues describe modest reductions in congenital heart disease," states the author of an accompanying editorial. "Substantial reductions in malformations have been reported only from additional periconceptual supplementation. As the population becomes more obese, rates of type 2 diabetes increase and nutritional habits remain poor, the prevalence of congenital heart disease may increase. So, rather than considering fortification targeted at populations, should we find more effective interventions to target women of child bearing age?"
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