Relationship of dietary diversity with energy and iron status among pregnant women
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Date
2018
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
A study was conducted to assess the relationship of dietary diversity with energy and iron
status among pregnant women. A total of 120 pregnant women from the three trimesters
attending antenatal clinic from the rural areas of Khanna were purposively selected. On the
basis of trimesters, the subjects were divided into three groups; group I (1st trimester), group
II (2nd trimester) and group III (3rd trimester). The findings revealed that dietary intake of
various food groups namely cereals, pulses, green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers, other
vegetables, fruits and milk and milk products was inadequate. However, the intake of sugar
and jaggery and fats and oils was more than adequate. The mean daily intake of energy,
protein, carbohydrates, riboflavin, niacin, b-carotene, calcium, iron , folic acid and zinc was
inadequate. The anemia was prevalent among 82 % of subjects with majority of subjects lying
in group II. Moreover, it was found that anthropometric measurements viz. weight gain and
BMI showed a significant (p<0.05) positive relation with energy intake. Among the
hematological parameters namely red blood cell count, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean
corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were had a positive
(p<0.01) relation with energy intake. Similarly iron status had a direct relation with energy
intake also with protein, fat and vitamin C. The mean dietary diversity score of pregnant
women of group I, group II and group III was 8.71, 7.98 and 8.32, respectively. Whereas, the
mean food variety score of the subjects of group I was 20.34, group II was 21.89 and group
III was 21.52. The factors namely self educational level, family income and hemoglobin level
showed a significant (p<0.01) relationship with dietary diversity score. Moreover, family
income and red blood cell count were significantly (p<0.01) related with food variety score.
The study concluded that energy intake directly affects the iron status of pregnant women.
Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that self employment should be
encouraged among the women so that their economic status and ultimately their purchasing
power is raised which would help in the improvement of their nutritional status and to combat
nutritional problems like anaemia.
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