GOING FOLIC! DURING NATIONAL FOLIC AWARENESS
WEEK AND BEYOND - A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
THAT'S EASY TO KEEP!

SAN FRANCISCO—How many of us keep our New Year's Resolutions? More often than not, energetic promises are broken as the year wears on and life catches up with our better intentions. However, according to Shivaun Nestor, Go Folic! Project Coordinator for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, "Deciding to get more folic acid this year is one resolution that is easy to keep, either by taking a daily multivitamin with 400 mcg of folic acid or by eating a bowl of cereal that's been fortified with 400 mcg of folic acid every morning."

What better time to make this resolution than during National Folic Acid Awareness Week, designated to increase awareness of the importance of folic acid to women? This year DPH is joining forces with the National Council on Folic Acid and the State of California's Everywoman California Campaign to get more folic acid in their diet. According to Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health, women, particularly Latina women, can easily and significantly reduce severe birth defects by adding 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid to their diet every day.

"Prevention is the key strategy to reducing one of the most common birth defects," said Dr. Chapman. "Consuming a B vitamin called folic acid is an inexpensive and effective way to achieve this and is at the forefront of our efforts to improve birth outcomes."

CDPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that all women of childbearing age take 400 mcg of folic acid daily, even if they have no immediate plans to become pregnant. This is because approximately 45 percent of births in California are unplanned, and serious birth defects of the brain or spinal cord called neural tube defects (NTDs) develop before many women know that they are pregnant and begin prenatal care. NTDs, which are the most common birth defects in California, can result in serious physical and learning disabilities as well as death.

Through the Go Folic! network of community clinics, the San Francisco Department of Public Health offers women, ages 14-54, who reside in San Francisco, a free year's supply of multivitamins with folic acid. To learn more, call the local MCAH hotline 1-800-300-9950 or visit the Go Folic! website at www.gofolic.org/free.html. For women outside of the city, the California Department of Public Health has teamed up with Raley's and SaveMart stores to promote folic acid use through special offers and displays.

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The Go Folic! Women's Nutrition Project is dedicated to improving the health of San Francisco women through vitamin distribution and education. The SFDPH Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Section's mission is to promote the health and well being of women of childbearing age, infants, children and adolescents who are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes by virtue of financial, language or cultural barriers. The Go Folic! Project is made possible by a grant from the Vitamin Cases Consumer Settlement Fund. Created as a result of an antitrust class action, one of the purposes of the Fund is to improve the health and nutrition of California consumers.

What the Folic?

Go Folic! is blogging at gofolic.wordpress.com/. Regular topics include: 1) contest updates; 2) food and recipes; 3) recent research; 4) project updates and staff profiles; 5) community contributor column; 6) "healthy women" bios; and 7) women's health.

PRESS RELEASES

January 8, 2012: Go Folic! During National Folic Awareness Month and Beyond - It's a New Year's Resolution that's Easy to Keep!

January 28, 2011: Go Folic! Encourages "Eating Right With Color" During National Nutrition Month

January 4, 2011: SFDPH Goes Folic for National Folic Awareness Month

October 27, 2010: SF Chinese Schools Participate in SFDPH Go Folic! Lantern Contest

September 14, 2010: Go Folic! Campaign Addresses Low Vvitamin Supplementation Among Women in the Chinese Community

May 8, 2010: Go Folic! Challenges SF Women to Give Themselves the Gift of Health!

March 8, 2010: Teens Go Folic! for National Nutrition Month

January 13, 2010: SFDPH Distributes Vitamins to Young Women through Community Health Programs for Youth Clinics

January 5, 2010: SFDPH Distributes Free Vitamins through its Go Folic! Women's Nutrition Project | Complete Press Packet (460 KB Zip File)

January 4, 2010: MEDIA ALERT / Folic Acid Awareness Week Press Conference

November 30, 2009: SF City College Goes Folic! Distributing Vitamins to Women Students

October 6, 2009: SFDPH Go Folic! Women's Nutrition Project Kicks Off Campaign Targeting Young Women

PRESS COVERAGE

February 26, 2010 | Cuisine Noir Magazine, Going Folic for a Healthy Body and Baby

February 12, 2010 | California Family Health Council Title X Update, "Go Folic! - New Resource to Encourage Teens to Stay Healthy"

January 7, 2010 | Channel 26, KTSF News Degment on the Go Folic! Vitamin Distribution Program

PRESS PACKET

September 14, 2010 (560 KB Zip File)

Resource Documents

Go Folic! Year II Highlights (7/2010)
Project Description (1/2010)
Folic Acid Fact Sheet (1/2010)
Go Folic! Website Guide (Jan 2010)
Research References (Jul 2009)

Parent Handout
Teen Handout
Foods w/ Folate Handout
Recipes Brochure