Recent national studies on awareness of folic acid (FA) prior to pregnancy among Canadian women are lacking. Using the 2017-2018 Canadian Community Health Survey, we aimed to estimate prevalence and risk factors associated with Canadian women who reported they were unaware of the benefits of FA supplementation before pregnancy. Prevalence of unawareness of FA was 22.1%. Lower education, lack of a health care provider, low household income, and an immigrant background were associated with greater odds of unawareness of the benefits of FA supplementation. Persistent associations with measures of social disadvantage and social determinants of health emphasize the need for new targeted public health campaigns.
Keywords: Canada; folic acid; folic acid/administration & dosage; neural tube defects/prevention & control; pregnancy; primary prevention/methods.
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