Purpose:The purpose of the current study was to explore the dietary diversity of pregnant women of Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. Methodology:A cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 pregnant women who were randomly selected from four different sub-districts of Rajshahi district: Godagari, Rajshahi Sadar, Shardah and Tanor. Dietary diversity was measured by Dietary Diversity Score (DDS). All statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS 20.0. Findings:The mean age of the respondents was 29±3 years. The mean Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) of the respondents was found 5.5±0.88, minimum and maximum DDS were 4 and 7, respectively. The study exposed that majority of the respondents (about 91%) had a medium dietary diversity and about 9% had dietary diversity of high level. Low dietary diversity was not found among the pregnant women of the study area. About all of the respondents had consumed cereals during the previous twenty-four hour of the dietary survey, about 97% had consumed vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables, about 91% had eaten other fruits and vegetables and meat, fish. The percent consumption of milk and milk products among the pregnant women were about 78% and about 35% had consumed legumes, nuts, seeds and dark green leafy vegetables. Organ meat consumption was negligible (only 1%) among the respondents and egg consumption was found to be only 21%.Conclusion: Dietary pattern of pregnant women of Rajshahi district has been found to be diversified enough reflecting probable adequacy of micronutrients.

Purpose:The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of household food insecurity and to determine the dietary and non-dietary factors associated with household food insecurity among pregnant women of mid-west Bangladesh. Methodology: The study was conducted in four sub-districts of Rajshahi district: Rajshahi Sadar, Godagari, Tanor and Shardah. It was a cross-sectional study which randomly enrolled 150 pregnant women. Household food insecurity among the respondents was calculated with the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Results: The mean age of the pregnant women was 29±3 years. About 76% of respondents were food secure, 23% of respondents were mildly food insecure, and only 1% of respondents were moderately food insecure. Severe food insecurity was not observed among the respondents in Rajshahi. About 17% of respondents were anxious and uncertain about their household food Jahan et al.; EJNFS, 10(1): 24-30, 2019; Article no.EJNFS.2019.003 25 supply, about 23% of respondents said that they had to eat foods of insufficient quality and only 1% of respondents replied that they had eaten an insufficient amount of food during the month prior to the study. It was observed that the mean Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) and mean Food Consumption Score (FCS) significantly differed (P < .05) between food secure and food insecure respondents. Meat, fish and poultry consumption were found higher among the food secure respondents but vegetable consumption was higher among the food insecure group. Some socioeconomic factors such as household size, respondents' educational status, husbands' educational status, husbands' occupation and monthly household income were significantly associated (P < .05) with household food insecurity of the respondents. Original Research Article