Maternal Dietary Intake During Pregnancy and Its Association with Size of Offspring at Birth and One Year of Age (P11-031-19)

In resource poor countries like India pregnant women are prone to inadequate dietary intake which causes macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies and consequently leads to low‐birth weight infants with higher risks of morbidity and mortality. Present study was planned with the following objectives: To assess dietary intake of pregnant women during third trimester. To correlate maternal dietary intake with size of infants at birth and at one year of age. This longitudinal study was carried out among slum population of Delhi. Dietary intake data was obtained from 144 pregnant women during pregnancy (gestational age > 28 weeks) using 24 hr recall and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) method. Pregnant women were followed upto delivery and birth size (weight, length, head circumference and MUAC) of infants was measured within 72 hours of birth. Infants were followed quarterly upto one year of age for anthropometric measurements. For statistical analysis One Way ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient methods were used. Food consumption data revealed that average consumption of all food groups was lower than the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) and percentage adequacy was poor for cereals (96.25%), pulses (51.3%), green leafy vegetables (24.4%), other vegetables (42.5%), fruits (34.8%) and milk and milk products (36.9%). Median intake for all the nutrients was also found lower than Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). Percentage adequacy was alsopoor for energy (70.4%), protein (61.0%), thiamine (70.8%), riboflavin (28.6%), niacin (54.9%), B6 (41.6%), folates (35.1%), ascorbic acid (99.4%), retinol (16.2%), calcium (33.6%), iron (28.6%), magnesium (90.1%), and zinc (57.8%). Maternal food group intake and nutrient intake during pregnancy were found significantly correlated with weight, length and MUAC of infants at birth but not at 12 months of age. Even though birth weight and weight at 12 months increased consistently with increase in maternal energy and protein adequacy, this association was not significant at 12 months of age. Dietary intake of pregnant women was lower than the recommended dietary intake among slum population of Delhi. Maternal dietary intake was found significantly associated with size of infants at birth. Indian Council Of Medical Research, New Delhi, India.