Factors associated with dietary practice and nutritional status of pregnant women in Dessie town, northeastern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundMaternal undernutrition is highly prevalent in resource-poor settings. Hence, this study was intended to determine factors associated with the dietary practice and nutritional status of pregnant women in Dessie town, northeastern Ethiopia.MethodsCommunity-based cross-sectional study design was employed. Six hundred four (604) pregnant women have participated. A two-stage sampling method was applied to select participants. Socio-demographic and socio-economic data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. The dietary practice was measured using 13 dietary practice questions. Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) was measured by standard nonstretchable MUAC tape. Data were entered into Epi-Info 7 and exported to SPSS version 20. Binary and multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted. Variables with P < 0.2 in bivariate analysis were entered for multiple logistic regression. At a 95% confidence interval, variable with 푃< 0.05 in multiple logistic regression analysis was considered statistically significant.ResultAbout 54.8% of the pregnant women had poor dietary practice and 19.5% were undernourished. First trimester of pregnancy (AOR = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.80), no history of illness 2 weeks before data collection date (AOR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.80), poor perceived severity (AOR = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.15, 2.33), poor perceived benefits (AOR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.32) and poor self efficacy (AOR = 4.74; 95% CI: 2.94, 7.65) were significantly associated with poor dietary practice. Not attending antenatal care (ANC) (AOR = 3.46; 95% CI: 2.07, 5.78), illness (AOR = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.10, 3.5), poor dietary diversity (AOR = 5.92; 95% CI: 3.59, 9.76), poor nutrition knowledge (AOR = 3.03; 95% CI: 1.87, 4.92), poor dietary practice (AOR = 3.25; 95% CI: 1.91, 5.54) and poor perceived self efficacy (AOR = 5.59; 95% CI: 3.56, 8.79) were significantly associated (P < 0.05) with undernutrition.ConclusionThe dietary practice of pregnant women was suboptimal and nutritional status was relatively high. Being in the first trimester of pregnancy and no history illness were negatively associated while poorly perceived severity to malnutrition, poor perceived benefits, and poor self-efficacy were positively associated with the poor dietary practice. Not attending ANC, history of illness, poor dietary diversity, poor nutritional knowledge, poor dietary practice, poorly perceived self-efficacy were positively associated with undernutrition. Government, health extension workers and other concerned bodies should encourage pregnant women to attend ANC, promote health during pregnancy, strength and counsel to improve dietary diversity and practice of good nutrition. They should focus on the perceived belief of dietary behaviors.

Prevalence and associated factors of undernutrition among pregnant women vising ANC clinic in Silte zone, southern Ethiopia

“…The current study found 21.8% (MUAC<23) prevalence rate of undernutrition. Our result is consistent with those of other three studies carried out in other parts of Ethiopia 19.8%, 19.5% and 24% (23,31,32). It is also consistent with ndings of a study done in south Sudan and a systemic review in Africa reported 18.9% and 23.5% respectively (20,33) .…”

“…The odds of undernutrition among women with poor nutritional knowledge were higher than their counterparts. This nding is similar with previous study (23). This could be possibly due to that poor nutritional knowledge about basic nutrition usually results in poor dietary intake leading to undernutrition.…”

“…The mean of triplicate measurement was taken. Pregnant women having MUAC< 23 cm were considered undernourished and ≥ 23 cm well-nourished (23,29,30) Data Quality Control Trained data collectors collected the data. The instrument was pretested in 5% of the sample size.…”

“…In developing nations including Ethiopia, burden of maternal and child undernutrition is very high. The prevalence of maternal undernutrition in Africa including Ethiopia found between 11%-36% (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). The most acceptable explanation for this wide variation is likely to be the fact that contextual factors are major determinants of maternal undernutrition.…”

Predictors of Malnutrition among Pregnant Women in Ethiopia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…These articles were from six regional state and two cities of Ethiopia. Eight studies were done in Oromo regional state [25,26,28,30,31,33,46,47], six articles in Amhara region [32,[48][49][50][51][52], four articles from South Nation and Nationality of People (SNNP) [27,34,53,54], two articles in Tigray [29,55] and in Addis Ababa (AA) [56], Dire Dawa [57], Gambella [58] and Ethiopian Somalia [59] shared single articles for each.…”