Diet during pregnancy greatly impacts health outcomes. This study aims to measure changes in dietary intakes throughout trimesters and to assess pregnant women’s dietary intakes in comparison with current Canadian nutritional recommendations. Seventy-nine pregnant women were recruited and completed, within each trimester, three Web-based 24-h dietary recalls and one Web questionnaire on supplement use. Dietary intakes from food, with and without supplements, were compared to nutritional recommendations throughout pregnancy. Energy and macronutrient intakes remained stable throughout pregnancy. A majority of women exceeded their energy and protein requirements in the first trimester, and fat intakes as a percentage of energy intakes were above recommendations for more than half of the women in all trimesters. Supplement use increased dietary intakes of most vitamins and minerals, but 20% of women still had inadequate total vitamin D intakes and most women had excessive folic acid intakes. This study showed that pregnant women did not increase their energy intakes throughout pregnancy as recommended. Furthermore, although prenatal supplementation reduces the risk of inadequate intake for most micronutrients, there is still a risk of excessive folic acid and insufficient vitamin D intake, which needs further investigation.

The present study aimed to (1) examine changes in diet quality throughout pregnancy and (2) identify maternal characteristics associated with trimester-specific diet quality. Pregnant women (n = 79) were recruited in their 1st trimester of pregnancy and completed, at each trimester, three web-based 24-hour dietary recalls, from which the Canadian Healthy Eating Index (HEI) was calculated. Physical activity, nutrition knowledge, and socio-demographic web-questionnaires were also completed. Although no variation in total HEI scores was observed across trimesters, we found an overall decrease in the following subscores: adequacy, total fruits and vegetables, unsaturated fats and saturated fats (p < 0.05). In the 1st trimester, overweight and obese pregnant women had a lower diet quality in comparison with normal-weight and underweight women (HEI scores: 63.1 ± 11.9 vs. 68.0 ± 9.3; p = 0.04). In the 3rd trimester, women younger than 28 years old, with no university degree, poorer nutrition knowledge and who reside in an urban setting, had a lower diet quality (p < 0.05). In conclusion, less educated, younger women who reside in an urban setting may be at a higher risk of poor diet quality in late pregnancy and could benefit from public health programs.

The present study aimed to characterize dietary intake and diet quality from late pregnancy to six months postpartum. Participants (n = 28) completed 2–3 Web-based 24 h recalls at three distinct periods: (1) during the third trimester of pregnancy; (2) three months and (3) six months after delivery. Energy, macro-and micronutrient intakes (from foods and supplements), as well as the Canadian healthy eating index (C-HEI) were derived from the dietary recalls. No significant variation in energy and macronutrient intakes was observed between time points. The proportion of women taking at least one supplement decreased over time (p = 0.003). The total intake of several micronutrients (vitamins A, C, D, group B vitamins, iron, magnesium, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, and copper) decreased significantly over time (p < 0.05 for all micronutrients). The total C-HEI score and its components did not change, except for the total vegetables and fruit subscore, which decreased over time (8.2 ± 2.0 in the 3rd trimester, 7.1 ± 2.2 at three months postpartum, 6.9 ± 2.4 at 6 months postpartum, p = 0.04). In conclusion, we observed a general stability in diet quality, energy, and macronutrient intakes from the third trimester of pregnancy to six months postpartum. However, several micronutrient intakes decreased over time, mostly due to changes in supplement use.

BackgroundThe use of valid dietary assessment methods is crucial to analyse adherence to dietary recommendations among pregnant women. This study aims to assess the relative validity of a self-administered Web-based 24-h dietary recall, the R24W, against a pen-paper 3-day food record (FR) among pregnant women.MethodsSixty (60) pregnant women recruited at 9.3 ± 0.7 weeks of pregnancy in Quebec City completed, at each trimester, 3 R24W and a 3-day FR. Mean energy and nutrient intakes reported by both tools were compared using paired Student T-Tests. Pearson correlations were used to analyze the association between both methods. Agreement between the two methods was evaluated using cross-classification analyses, weighted kappa coefficients and Bland-Altman analyses.ResultsPearson correlation coefficients were all significant, except for vitamin B12 (r = 0.03; p = 0.83) and ranged from 0.27 to 0.76 (p < 0.05). Differences between mean intakes assessed by the R24W and the FR did not exceed 10% in 19 variables and were not significant for 16 out of 26 variables. In cross-classification analyses, the R24W ranked, on average, 79.1% of participants in the same or adjacent quartiles as the FR.ConclusionsCompared to a 3-day FR, the R24W is a valid method to assess intakes of energy and most nutrients but may be less accurate in the evaluation of intakes of fat (as a proportion of energy intake), vitamin D, zinc and folic acid. During pregnancy, the R24W was a more accurate tool at a group-level than at an individual-level and should, therefore, be used in an epidemiological rather than a clinical setting. The R24W may be particularly valuable as a tool used in cohort studies to provide valid information on pregnant women’s dietary intakes and facilitate evaluation of associations between diet and adverse pregnancy outcomes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12884-018-1741-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.