Dietary habits, diversity, and predictors among pregnant women attending primary health care centers for antenatal care in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background and Aim: Inadequate nutrition during fetal development resulting from poor dietary habits leads to reprogramming within fetal tissues and poses as a risk factor for non-communicable diseases in later life. This study was conducted to determine the dietary habits, diversity, and predictors among pregnant women in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire to obtain data from pregnant women attending primary health care centers in Lagos, Nigeria. A multistage sampling method was used to select 350 pregnant women. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the dietary habits while dietary diversity was measured using non-quantifiable 24-hour recall. Data were analyzed using Epi-Info version 7.2 computer software. Chi-square and t -test were used to test for associations and P value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Only 16.7% of respondents consumed five servings of fruits and vegetables daily while the rice was the most frequent meal taken (45.4%). Meat was the commonest animal protein (20.3%) and only 30.8% had a high dietary diversity score (DDS). High DDS was significantly associated with parity of 1–3, living in a duplex or detached house, completion of at least secondary school education, and highly skilled professionals. Conclusion: Healthy dietary habits and high DDS were low and associated with low parity and higher socio-economic status. Nutrition intervention that encourages higher dietary diversity is needed especially among women of higher parity and lower socioeconomic status in Lagos.

Correlates of minimum dietary diversity among pregnant women on antenatal care follow up at public health facility in Puntland, Somalia

“…Sharing food among family members, could lead to a shortage of food within the household, and women usually prioritize their children, limiting their diversified dietary consumption 37 . This finding was similar to results obtained from Nigeria 32 . Related to this, women with extended families (≥ 5) had a higher susceptibility to a less diversified diet.…”

“…Higher estimates were also reported from India (18%) 23 , Nepal (45%) 31 , Nigeria (30.8%) 32 , Southern Ethiopia (7.9%) 33 , and Eastern Ethiopia (43%) 34 . The possible explanation for this discrepancy in magnitude might be due to study period differences and geographical and socio-cultural differences that could affect availability and access to food.…”

Dietary Diversity Among Pregnant Women in Gurage Zone, South Central Ethiopia: Assessment Based on Longitudinal Repeated Measurement

“…The women from households with greater monthly incomes had lower odds of having sub-optimal dietary diversity in comparison to women with lesser monthly income, a finding that corroborates what had been previously reported. 19 , 48 , 49 Household food insecurity had a strong association with women’s dietary diversity in this study. The participants were categorized into food secure, mild, moderate and severe food-insecure households but the last two categories were merged for the analysis due to few numbers of subjects under them.…”

Dietary Knowledge and Eating Habits among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Lebanon

“…In terms of DK, our findings were similar to those of studies conducted in Sudan [ 22 ] and Iran [ 23 ] where more than half of the participants with T2D had good DK levels. A different pattern of results was observed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) [ 18 ], Jordan [ 10 ], and Nigeria [ 11 ] where subjects demonstrated poor DK. The difference in knowledge levels among these populations with T2D may be attributable to the different knowledge assessment tools, study designs, and sociocultural differences between these populations.…”

“…Also, knowledge of diabetes was found to be associated with compliance with treatment and a decrease in complications [ 9 ]. In Jordan [ 10 ] and Nigeria [ 11 ], studies reported poor dietary knowledge (DK) levels in the population with T2D, thus hindering diabetes outcomes. In Lebanon, studies showed that patients' knowledge and practice scores related to diabetes' self-management were unsatisfactory [ 12 ].…”