Folic Acid

(asked on 8th July 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the serum total folate levels for women of child-bearing age shown in the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey supplementary report vary between the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, and whether those levels are above or below the World Health Organisation thresholds.


This question was answered on 20th July 2015

For women of child bearing age (16 to 49 years), mean serum total folate concentration was 17.4 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) in Scotland, 18.8 nmol/L in Wales and 16.3 nmol/L in Northern Ireland. The proportion with concentrations below 10 nmol/L, the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold indicating biochemical folate deficiency was 24.4% in Scotland, 14.5% in Wales and 30.6% in Northern Ireland. In the United Kingdom as a whole, mean serum total folate concentration was 20.0 nmol/L, and 16.5% had concentrations below the WHO threshold.

Reticulating Splines