Publication: Food behavior and folate status of hill-tribe schoolchildren and women of childbearing age on the northern border of Thailand
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Issued Date
2008-03-01
Resource Type
ISSN
01251562
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2-s2.0-42349094477
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Mahidol University
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. Vol.39, No.2 (2008), 353-361
Suggested Citation
Karunee Kwanbunjan, Apanchanid Thepouyporn, Kriyaporn Songmuaeng, Wanyarat Nakosiri, Cheeraratana Cheeramakara, Yupa Chusongsang, Pikul Laisupasin, Sirirat Tunsakul, Yaowamarn Chantaranipapong, Somchai Pooudong, Kanjana Hongtong Food behavior and folate status of hill-tribe schoolchildren and women of childbearing age on the northern border of Thailand. Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health. Vol.39, No.2 (2008), 353-361. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/19734
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Title
Food behavior and folate status of hill-tribe schoolchildren and women of childbearing age on the northern border of Thailand
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Abstract
An insight into the folate nutritional status of the population is important from a public health perspective. The protective effect of folate against neural tube defects (NTDs) is widely recognized. To assess the health and nutritional status, especially folate status, of vulnerable hill-tribe groups, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 197 schoolchildren and 136 women of childbearing age in Chaloem Phra Kiat District, Nan Province, Thailand. The nutritional status of the study group was investigated by dietary survey, and blood samples were taken to determine hematocrit, protein, and serum and red blood cell folate. Anthropometric measurements were taken to assess body size, composition and nutritional indexes. The health and nutritional status of the hill-tribe schoolchildren and women of childbearing age were found to be unacceptable, particularly inregard to folate status, which was indicated by low folate levels found in the blood samples, and in the intake of this micronutrient.