Dietary folate status among Chinese adults and its association with chronic kidney disease prevalence

Background: We aimed to describe the dietary folate intake status in China, and assessed the association of dietary folate intake with the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Nine thousand six hundred fifty-two individuals with complete dietary data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey at 2009 were included. Dietary intake was collected by 24-hour dietary recalls over three consecutive days in conjunction with a household food inventory, and nutrients intakes were estimated using the Chinese Food Composition Tables. CKD was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Results: The mean dietary folate intake was 201.4 (standard deviation [SD]: 98.6) μg/day, with only 3.3% of the participants having dietary folate intake ≥400 μg/day. Folate intake was mainly derived from vegetables (36.3%), grains (30.2%), eggs (13.5%), and legumes (8.7%). Those living in the southern ( vs. northern) regions had a higher proportion of folate intake from grains (31.4% vs. 28.7%) and vegetables (40.5% vs. 30.8%) and a lower proportion of folate intake from legumes (7.7% vs. 10.0%) and eggs (9.8% vs. 18.4%). Rural ( vs. urban) residents had a higher proportion of folate intake from grains (32.8% vs. 24.6%) and a lower proportion of folate intake from legumes (7.7% vs. 10.8%) and eggs (12.8% vs. 15.1%). There was no significant association between dietary folate intake and the prevalence of CKD. Conclusion: In the general Chinese population, dietary folate intake is generally insufficient, and dietary folate is mainly derived from vegetables, grains, eggs, and legumes. There was no significant correlation between dietary folate intake and CKD prevalence.