Nutritional status in pregnant women attending Kiru General Hospital in Kano state, Nigeria

Abstract

The present study determined body weight and height (Body Mass Index-BMI) was calculated according to the formula weight (kg)/height2 (m), Blood Pressure (BP), Hemoglobin (Hb), Fasting Blood Glucose (FBS) and Total Cholesterol (TC) in pregnant women (PW) in the three trimesters
and in non-pregnant women (NPW). Sixty apparently healthy pregnant women and twenty non pregnant non lactating women (age range 17-34 years) participated in the study. The results showed significant difference in BMI of the pregnant women (1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters) and the
control group (p<0.05). There was an increase in BP levels in the pregnant women when compared to the non pregnant women. The results also showed that the levels of Hb decreased significantly (p<0.05) as the pregnancy progressed through the three trimesters. However the results indicated that there was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the FBS and TC levels between the non pregnant women and pregnant women through the trimesters.

Keywords: Pregnant women, non pregnant women, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure,hemoglobin, serum fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol.