Both inadequate and excessive GWG can have detrimental effects on the health of mothers and infants. Pre-pregnancy BMI, height and physical activity should be emphasized in prenatal care to ensure that women have adequate GWG rate.
Background. Adequate vitamin D intake during pregnancy is important for prevention of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Objectives. The present study aims to determine the intake and sources of vitamin D, as well as factors associated with vitamin D intake among pregnant Malaysian women. Material and methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Seremban Maternal and Child Health (MCH) clinic, Negeri Sembilan. Women (n = 314) were measured for height and weight and interviewed for socio-demographics, obstetrics, dietary intake, source of vitamin D, intake of vitamin D supplements and physical activity. Results. One-third of pregnant women were overweight (21%) or obese (13%) with a mean pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23.65 ± 5.29 kg/m². The mean vitamin D intake of pregnant women was 11.54 ± 0.45 µg/day (diet = 6.55 ± 4.43 µg/day; supplements = 4.99 ± 5.95 µg/day) with approx. 74.5% of intake being above recommendation levels. Milk and milk products showed the greatest contribution to vitamin D intake (56.8%). While women with higher energy (adjusted OR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.01-0.87) and calcium (adjusted OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.11-0.67) intake were more likely to have adequate vitamin D intake, obese women were less likely to have adequate vitamin D intake (adjusted OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.72-3.79). Conclusions. Adequate intake of vitamin D was significantly associated with higher energy and calcium intake, but obese women tend to have inadequate intake. Further studies need to confirm these finding and the contribution of vitamin D intake to vitamin D status in pregnant Malaysian women. Key words: pre-pregnancy BMI, energy intake, calcium intake, vitamin D intake.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.