[Changes in life styles of pregnant women and risks for having a pregnancy afflicted with spina bifida].

Aims: Though periconceptional intakes of folic acid could prevent the occurrence of spina bifida by 50 to 70%, the prevalence has not shown any decreasing tendency during the past 30 years in Japan. We aim to analyze various parameters through life style questionnaires and 3-day food records obtained from pregnant women the last 10 years, and to examine whether their life styles have been shifting to the direction of lowering the incidence of spina bifida.

Materials And Methods: Life style questionnaires inquired of knowledge of folic acid in relation to preventing spina bifida during a pregnancy and other relevant parameters, which were collected from 11,861 participants during a period of from 2002 to 2011.