The prevalence of low serum vitamin B-12 status in the absence of anemia or macrocytosis did not increase among older U.S. adults after mandatory folic acid fortification.

ABSTRACT: Whether folic acid fortification and supplementation at the population level have led to a higher prevalence of vitamin B-12 deficiency in the absence of anemia remains to be examined among a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults. We assessed the prevalence of low vitamin B-12 status in the absence of anemia or macrocytosis before and after fortification among adults aged >50 y using cross-sectional data from the NHANES 1991-1994 (prefortification) and 2001-2006 (postfortification). We compared the prefortification and postfortification prevalence of multiple outcomes, including serum vitamin B-12 deficiency (<148 pmol/L) and marginal deficiency (148-258 pmol/L) with and without anemia (hemoglobin <130 g/L for men, <120 g/L for women) and with and without macrocytosis (mean

SUBMITTER: Qi YP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5291239 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature