Table 2.
Geometric mean serum folate and RBC folate concentrations of NHW and MA women aged 15–44 years by race/ethnicity and acculturation factors, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2010*
| Women 15–44 years | MA | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language spoken | Country of origin | Time in the United States | |||||||
| NHW | MA | Primarily Spanish | Equal English/Spanish | Primarily English | Mexico | United States | <15 years | ≥15 years | |
| Serum folate (ng mL−1) (2001–2010) † | |||||||||
| n | 2874 | 1796 | 828 | 341 | 626 | 863 | 926 | 571 | 1195 |
| Total | 16.8 (16.4, 17.3) | 14.9 (14.4, 15.2) § | 14.4 (13.9, 14.9) § , ¶ | 14.4 (13.5, 15.6) § | 15.6 (14.9, 16.4) § | 14.6 (14.0, 15.0) § , ¶ | 15.2 (14.6, 15.8) § | 14.3 (13.7, 14.9) § , ¶ | 15.2 (14.6, 15.6) § |
| Stratified by folic acid supplement use | |||||||||
| n | 978 | 293 | 116 | 41 | 136 | 126 | 167 | 82 | 207 |
| Users | 20.9 (20.3, 21.8) | 19.5 (18.4, 20.5) § | 19.1 (17.8, 20.7) § | 20.9 (18.7, 23.1) | 19.3 (18.0, 20.9) | 19.1 (17.6, 20.5) § | 19.9 (18.5, 21.1) | 19.1 (17.5, 20.9) | 19.5 (18.4, 20.9) |
| n | 1895 | 1502 | 711 | 300 | 490 | 736 | 759 | 488 | 988 |
| Non‐users | 14.7 (14.3, 15.2) | 13.9 (13.5, 14.3) § | 13.7 (13.2, 14.3) § | 13.6 (12.4, 14.7) | 14.6 (13.7, 15.5) | 13.9 (13.5, 14.4) § | 14.2 (13.5, 14.7) § | 13.6 (13.1, 14.2) § | 14.3 (13.7, 14.9) |
| RBC folate (ng mL−1) (2007–2010) ‡ | |||||||||
| n | 1205 | 626 | 311 | 105 | 210 | 318 | 302 | 180 | 422 |
| Total | 464 (450, 483) | 424 (399, 446) § | 403 (384, 424) § , ¶ | 441 (392, 498) | 441 (407, 473) | 403 (384, 424) § , ¶ | 446 (416, 478) | 395 (380, 416) § , ¶ | 437 (407, 464) |
| Stratified by folic acid supplement use | |||||||||
| n | 357 | 104 | 50 | 16 | 38 | 55 | 49 | 33 | 67 |
| Users | 556 (534, 578) | 508 (464, 550) | 498 (455, 545) § | 556 (437, 706) | 498 (433, 572) | 508 (464, 556) | 503 (437, 578) | 508 (446, 572) | 508 (455, 567) |
| n | 848 | 522 | 261 | 89 | 172 | 263 | 253 | 147 | 355 |
| Non‐users | 424 (412, 441) | 407 (384, 433) | 388 (365, 412) § , ¶ | 420 (376, 469) | 428 (392, 464) | 384 (365, 403) § , ¶ | 433 (399, 469) | 376 (358, 395) § , ¶ | 424 (392, 455) |
MA, Mexican American; NHW, non‐Hispanic white. *Values are age‐adjusted geometric means (95% confidence interval). † N values might not add up because of missing data (supplement use, n = 2; language, n = 1; country of origin, n = 7; time in the United States, n = 30). ‡ N values might not add up because of missing data (supplement use, n = 0; language, n = 0, country of origin, n = 6; time in the United States, n = 24). §Different from NHW, P < 0.05. ¶Different from most acculturated within acculturation factor, P < 0.05.