Studies on Folic Acid in Infancy

The level of folic and folinic acid in whole blood was assayed in 373 healthy infants from birth to one year. Folic acid was high at birth and dropped gradually over the first 8 postnatal weeks. The mean value for the remainder of the first year was significantly below the adult mean. Folinic acid was likewise high at birth and dropped parallel with the folic acid. However, following the initial drop, folinic acid mean values remained well above the adult mean. Folic and folinic acid values were higher in breast-fed than in artificially fed infants and lower in infants whose economic status was poor than in babies belonging to families of higher income.