Nutrition Knowledge, Dietary Practices and Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in a Semi-Urban Community in Southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy is a highly demanding period of varying physiological changes that can adversely affect the health of the mother and the foetus when unhealthy dietary practices are adopted.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the nutrition knowledge, dietary practices and nutritional status of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in a semi-urban community in Southwestern Nigeria.
Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among 122 pregnant women in Ile-Ife metropolis, selected using multi-stage sampling technique. The nutritional status of the respondents was assessed using BMI, MUAC and their most recent PCV. Significant findings were so judged at p< 0.05.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 28.9 ± 4.4 years.Majority of the respondents were married and 82 (67.2%) had high dietary diversity. For the nutritional status, 3 (2.5%) and 12 (9.8%) were underweight using BMI and MUAC respectively. The PCV showed that Seven (5.7%) of the respondents were anaemic. The nutrition knowledge of the respondents was statistically associated with their level of education (p = 0.018), occupation (p = 0.009), husband's occupation (p = 0.026) and the husband's average income (p = 0.010).
Conclusion: This study found that factors associated with nutrition knowledge were mainly sociodemographic factors such as the level of education, husband's income, occupation of the respondents and their husbands. Nutritional interventions among pregnant women should ultimately target financial empowerment through sustainable income generating activities and saving strategies for this highly
vulnerable group.

Keywords: Nutrition, knowledge, dietary practices, pregnant women, antenatal clinics