The Nutritional Knowledge of Pregnant Women

Abstract

Introduction. Rational nutrition of women during pregnancy has a great influence on the developing fetus. In the properly developing pregnancy, woman should eat 3-4 quality meals per day. What is more, for the proper development of the fetus, as well as the placenta, uterus and the mammary gland, it is necessary to consume high-value protein products. Moreover, vitamins and mineral compounds are important due to the serious implications that arise if not properly provided.Aim. The aim of the paper is to assess the nutritional practices, the level of knowledge held by pregnant women with respect to proper nourishment practices, and to define the influence of level of formal education achieved upon this issue.Material and methods. The research involved 87 pregnant women who were under the care of the outpatient women's health centre and high-risk pregnancy unit of the Regional Specialist Hospital in Biała Podlaska.Results and discussion. According to most of the female respondents, information concerning proper nutrition of pregnant women is not generally available. Because of this, in completing the questionnaire, more than half of the subjects stated that they often consume white bakery products, white rice and refined pasta -with insufficient consumption of brown bread, rice and wholemeal pasta. Furthermore, while the respondents seem to consume the proper amount of potatoes, barely 8% consume other vegetables with the advised frequency. Moreover, only 31% of the respondents take-in fruits in necessary quantities. However, a majority of them frequently consume milk, yoghurt, cheese, kefir and buttermilk; plus, more than half of the respondents drink at least 1-2 litres of various kinds of liquids per day. Our results also reveal that they very rarely consume fresh fish, poultry and red beef meat, preferring cooked products. Indeed, the respondents stated that they consume meat and fish mainly in a fried form, while 52.9% of the women take-in fast food products. Of note, the surveyed women prefer animal fats. In addition, nearly 70% of the subjects consume too many eggs. Furthermore, more than 40% consume an excessive amount of sugar and sweets. To conclude, the proper amount of meals is consumed by only 52.7% of the respondents, no matter their formal education level.Conclusions. Many abnormalities were found while verifying negatively the hypothesis, according to which, level of formal education achieved has an impact on the increase of consciousness in terms of proper nourishment during the pregnancy.

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

“…Only 5.7% consumed alcohol either as beer or wine similar to a Polish study that reported consumption of alcohol to be rare among its respondents. [ 1 ] Other Nigerian studies conducted in Imo state (19%) and Port Harcourt (20%) reported higher rates of consumption of alcohol among pregnant women. [ 8 19 ] Alcohol consumption should be discouraged especially during pregnancy because it can cause fetal alcohol syndrome in the fetus leading to irreversible mental and physical retardation.…”

“…Inadequate nutrition during crucial periods of fetal development resulting from poor dietary habits may lead to reprogramming within fetal tissues and pose as a risk factor for non-communicable diseases in later life. [ 1 ] Fetal malnutrition can result from either a surplus or deficiency in the mother. Surpluses result in overweight and complicate pregnancy and labor, leading to serious birth defects.…”

“…Surpluses result in overweight and complicate pregnancy and labor, leading to serious birth defects. [ 1 ] Deficiency of nutrients on the other hand increases the risk for intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) which usually predicts early life growth curves and survival, besides age and sex. [ 2 ]…”

Assessment of young women’s knowledge about selected aspects of proper nutrition during pregnancy

“…Nieco odmienne dane uzyskali Książek i wsp. -w przeprowadzonych przez nich badaniach mało która ciężarna deklarowała spożywanie tego rodzaju napoju [4]. W badaniach własnych oceniano również subiektywne opinie ankietowanych na temat prawidłowego żywienia kobiet w okresie ciąży.…”

“…w okresie dzieciństwa i w życiu dorosłym. W czasie ciąży następuje wzrost zapotrzebowania na energię, składniki odżywcze, witaminy i składniki mineralne [1,2,3,4], dlatego szczególnie ważne jest wdrożenie w życie zasad racjonalnego żywienia [2]. Istotne jest również ograniczenie lub całkowita rezygnacja ze stosowania używek i wybranych produktów spożywczych [2,5].…”