HUMAN NUTRITION

Detailed explanation-1: -Folic acid is a vitamin found in many foods and multivitamin supplements. It’s especially important for women who could become pregnant because folic acid can help prevent birth defects.

Detailed explanation-2: -During pregnancy, poor diets lacking in key nutrients – like iodine, iron, folate, calcium and zinc – can cause anaemia, pre-eclampsia, haemorrhage and death in mothers. They can also lead to stillbirth, low birthweight, wasting and developmental delays for children.

Detailed explanation-3: -Folic acid is an important part of planning for a healthy pregnancy. The two most common types of neural tube defects are anencephaly and spina bifida. Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which parts of a baby’s brain and skull do not form correctly.

Detailed explanation-4: -Why folic acid is important before and during pregnancy. When the baby is developing early during pregnancy, folic acid helps form the neural tube. Folic acid is very important because it can help prevent some major birth defects of the baby’s brain (anencephaly) and spine (spina bifida).