Relationship between dietary habits and folic acid awareness in registered dietitian course students

抄録

Registered dietitians may have the opportunity to provide pregnant females with important information about folic acid. Registered dietitian course students are expected to learn important information about folic acid. We provided lectures and administered questionnaire surveys to investigate the knowledge of folic acid, which reduces the risk of neural tube defects, and the intake of folic acid in the diet by registered dietitian course students. Among female registered dietitian course students, 564 provided effective responses. The folic acid intake of students with knowledge of folic acid (N = 448, 233.9 ± 73.5 µg/day) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of students without (N = 116, 210.0 ± 58.2 µg/day). Similarly, the intake of green and yellow vegetables significantly differed (p < 0.05) between students with knowledge of folic acid (N = 448, 66.6 ± 43.4 g/day) and those without (N = 116, 55.4 ± 33.9 g/day). It was clarified that conscious promotion of the intake of green and yellow vegetables promotes the intake of folic acid. However, at the time of the survey, most of the students who responded were not considered to have responded in consideration of pregnancy, suggesting that they may not consciously ingest folic acid even if they have knowledge of it.