Many Women Have Preexisting Modifiable Risk Factors for Birth Defects

TUESDAY, Aug. 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) — About two-thirds of reproductive-aged women in the United States have preexisting modifiable risk factors for birth defects, according to a study published online Aug. 26 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Arick Wang, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007 to March 2020 to examine the prevalence and trends of risk factors for selected birth defects among nonpregnant, nonlactating women of reproductive age (aged 12 to 49 years).

The researchers found that about 66.4 percent of 5,374 women of reproductive age had at least one known modifiable risk factor: 6.7, 33.8, 4.8, 18.8, and 19.5 percent reported very low food security, obesity, diabetes, smoking exposure, and red blood cell folate concentration below the threshold for optimal neural tube defect prevention. The percentage of women of reproductive age with at least one risk factor increased from 65.3 to 69.5 percent during the time studied.

“Every growing family hopes for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby,” Wang said in a statement. “Understanding modifiable risk factors for birth defects helps families, health care providers, and public health professionals make data-informed decisions that can lead to healthier pregnancies and babies.”

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