Study Suggests More Than 1 in 10 Adults Are Folate, Vitamin B12 Deficient

A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found about 13 percent of U.K. adults older than 50 are deficient in folate and vitamin B12, reports United Press International . One in eight older adults are deficient in B12 and one in seven are not getting enough folate, with variations based on location, health, lifestyle, and time of year measured. Previous studies have tied poor long-term health, especially among older people, to low nutritional levels of these supplements. Megaloblastic anemia, poor growth, increased infections, and irreversible neurologic damage to the developing brain are among the afflictions at risk. "The high rates of B-vitamin deficiency seen in the older adult population are of concern and, given that this can be easily treated with fortification, this has significant policy and practice implications for government and health services," says Rose Anne Kenny, a principal investigator of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging. The percentage of people with sufficient usage rose with age, from 14 percent among those aged 50-60 years to 23 percent among people over 80. More women took B12 or folate than men, and B12 and folate deficiency was more common in smokers, obese, and those who lived alone. In the United States, where folic acid fortification is mandatory, an estimated 3.2 percent of adults older than 50 are deficient in B12 and another 20 percent may have borderline deficient levels of B12, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.