A recent study revealed that Hispanic babies have a higher premature birth rate than those of white babies, and the lack of folic acid in non-fortified traditional corn masa flour could be to blame.

March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to mothers' and babies' health, released their "Maternal and Infant Health in US Hispanic Populations: Prematurity and Related Health Indicators" report this month. The study found that Hispanic women have more babies than any other ethnic group in the U.S., making Hispanics the country's fastest-growing group.

"One of the things that caught our eye was, while Hispanics represent 17 percent of the population, 24 percent of premature babies are Hispanic," Dr. Edward McCabe, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the March of Dimes, told Fox News Latino.

In 2012, Hispanic women's likeliness to give birth prematurely was 12 percent higher than that of white women, according to the report. These premature births lead to issues like neural tube defects, which mutate the brain and spinal cords, potentially causing disability or death.

A suspected cause of these high rates is a lack of folic acid, which is typically added to wheat flour in the United States, but not masa flour.

"The March of Dimes urges the Food and Drug Administration to allow the fortification of corn masa flour with folic acid to reduce the risk of these birth defects," March of Dimes said in the report. "More education and outreach is needed to encourage Hispanic women of childbearing age to take a multivitamin daily, in addition to consuming a healthy diet."

Masa flour is commonly used in traditional Hispanic dishes such as tortillas, tamales and arepas. The ingredient is not fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin known to help prevent neural tube defects, unlike wheat flour, which the Food and Drug Administration mandates be fortified.

"This is why the March of Dimes is striving to have masa cornmeal fortified with folate," Dr. Diana Ramos, co-chair of the March of Dimes Hispanic Advisory Council and obstetrics and gynecology professor at University of Southern California, told FNL. "Corn masa flour is not part of the standard American diet, so since 2012 we've been working on this, making progress slowly."

According to FNL, National Council of La Raza and American Academy of Pediatrics also support masa flour ingredients requirements.

Another possible reason for these high premature birth rates, according to the report, is that Hispanic women are also three times more likely to be impregnated before the age of 17 than white women. In addition, the population is less likely to have health insurance.

Update: the article has been editied to further clarify that it is the lack of folic acid in traditional masa flour that may be responsible for higher rates of birth defects.


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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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