Evaluation of dietary habits during pregnancy

Abstract

Objective:Pregnancy is a special period of increased nutritional needs during which conscious nutritional support is required. Insufficient and imbalanced nutrition in this period of life causes serious conditions that affect both child and mother. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between pregnancy and nutrition/nutritional habits during pregnancy.Materials and Methods:In this descriptive study, a questionnaire was conducted on a voluntary basis to pregnant women who were admitted to the Pregnancy Outpatient Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital. Questions about general information, pregnancy-related information, thoughts and knowledge about breastfeeding, nutritional habits, and meal frequency were asked to pregnant women. Three hundred fourteen questionnaires were assessed in the study. SPSS for Windows Version 16.0 and MS-Excel 2007 were used for statistical evaluations. P<0.05 was accepted as statistical significance.Results:There was a statistically significant relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and number of pregnancies; level of education and income levels; number of children and history of caesarian section as an additional problem within previous pregnancies. The change of nutritional habits during pregnancy was examined; we found that consumption of fruits (51%) and vegetables (40.8%) increased the most, while intake of tea (26.1%) and redmeat (21%) mainly decreased during pregnancy. It was found that during pregnancy 20.4% of pregnant women had never consumed fish, 13.1% abstained from red meat, and 12.4% excluded white meat from their diet.Conclusions:We believe that this study will help to raise awareness about adequate and balanced nutrition during pregnancy and to define special nutritional recommendations.

Levels of n-3 and n-6 Fatty Acids in Maternal Erythrocytes during Pregnancy and in Human Milk and Its Association with Perinatal Mental Health

“…Moreover, analyses were limited to n -3 and n -6 FA and were only conducted at one time-point in erythrocytes and in human milk. Measuring FA in erythrocytes in the postpartum period would have complemented our results and provided additional evidence for the associations between n -3 and n -6 FA and perinatal mental health, particularly as pregnancy and lactation are periods of rapidly changing dietary patterns [45,46]. On top of that, antenatal and postpartum depression were only assessed at one time-point during pregnancy and lactation.…”

Levels of n-3 and n-6 Fatty Acids in Maternal Erythrocytes during Pregnancy and in Human Milk and Its Association with Perinatal Mental Health

“…Moreover, analyses were limited to n -3 and n -6 FA and were only conducted at one time-point in erythrocytes and in human milk. Measuring FA in erythrocytes in the postpartum period would have complemented our results and provided additional evidence for the associations between n -3 and n -6 FA and perinatal mental health, particularly as pregnancy and lactation are periods of rapidly changing dietary patterns [45,46]. On top of that, antenatal and postpartum depression were only assessed at one time-point during pregnancy and lactation.…”

Cross-cultural adaptation and reproducibility of the EPIC-Norfolk food frequency questionnaire in young people living in Croatia

“…The group of young adults (N = 61) consisted mostly of college students of both sexes. The second group consisted of pregnant women, who were regarded as a separate group because of specific nutritional needs during pregnancy ( 21 ). The third group included children and adolescents.…”

Assessing malnutrition in pregnant women using the Dietary Diversity Score and the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference: A cross-sectional study, Zambia

“…A cross-sectional descriptive study aimed at evaluating dietary habits among pregnant women in Turkey revealed that most of the foods consumed were fruits and vegetables with a decrease in the consumption of tea and red meat (22). Pregnant women from a low socio-economic class were two times more likely to be undernourished compared to pregnant women from food secure households (54) .…”

Levels of n-3 and n-6 Fatty Acids in Maternal Erythrocytes during Pregnancy and in Human Milk and Its Association with Perinatal Mental Health

“…Moreover, analyses were limited to n -3 and n -6 FA and were only conducted at one time-point in erythrocytes and in human milk. Measuring FA in erythrocytes in the postpartum period would have complemented our results and provided additional evidence for the associations between n -3 and n -6 FA and perinatal mental health, particularly as pregnancy and lactation are periods of rapidly changing dietary patterns [45,46]. On top of that, antenatal and postpartum depression were only assessed at one time-point during pregnancy and lactation.…”

Cross-cultural adaptation and reproducibility of the EPIC-Norfolk food frequency questionnaire in young people living in Croatia

“…The group of young adults (N = 61) consisted mostly of college students of both sexes. The second group consisted of pregnant women, who were regarded as a separate group because of specific nutritional needs during pregnancy ( 21 ). The third group included children and adolescents.…”

Assessing malnutrition in pregnant women using the Dietary Diversity Score and the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference: A cross-sectional study, Zambia

“…A cross-sectional descriptive study aimed at evaluating dietary habits among pregnant women in Turkey revealed that most of the foods consumed were fruits and vegetables with a decrease in the consumption of tea and red meat (22). Pregnant women from a low socio-economic class were two times more likely to be undernourished compared to pregnant women from food secure households (54) .…”

Levels of n-3 and n-6 Fatty Acids in Maternal Erythrocytes during Pregnancy and in Human Milk and Its Association with Perinatal Mental Health

“…Moreover, analyses were limited to n -3 and n -6 FA and were only conducted at one time-point in erythrocytes and in human milk. Measuring FA in erythrocytes in the postpartum period would have complemented our results and provided additional evidence for the associations between n -3 and n -6 FA and perinatal mental health, particularly as pregnancy and lactation are periods of rapidly changing dietary patterns [45,46]. On top of that, antenatal and postpartum depression were only assessed at one time-point during pregnancy and lactation.…”

Cross-cultural adaptation and reproducibility of the EPIC-Norfolk food frequency questionnaire in young people living in Croatia

“…The group of young adults (N = 61) consisted mostly of college students of both sexes. The second group consisted of pregnant women, who were regarded as a separate group because of specific nutritional needs during pregnancy ( 21 ). The third group included children and adolescents.…”

Assessing malnutrition in pregnant women using the Dietary Diversity Score and the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference: A cross-sectional study, Zambia

“…A cross-sectional descriptive study aimed at evaluating dietary habits among pregnant women in Turkey revealed that most of the foods consumed were fruits and vegetables with a decrease in the consumption of tea and red meat (22). Pregnant women from a low socio-economic class were two times more likely to be undernourished compared to pregnant women from food secure households (54) .…”