Assessment of Nutritional Practices of Pregnant Mothers on Maternal Nutrition and Associated Factors in Guto Gida Woreda, East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Nutrition is a fundamental pillar of human life, health and development throughout the entire life span. The nutrition requirement varies with respect to age, gender and during physiological changes such as pregnancy. Pregnancy is a critical phase in a woman's life, when the  expectant mother needs optimal nutrients of superior food qualities to
support the developing fetus. The aim of this study was to assess the practices of pregnant mothers on maternal nutrition and associated factors in Guto Gida Woreda, East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia. The study was  conducted during January to June of the year 2013, using quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study on a sample of 422 pregnant women and supplemented by qualitative study (focus group discussion).The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS for windows version (16.0). Multiple logistic regression was run to assess factors that were associated with the dependent variable at P<0.05 and to control the confounders. Finally, the result of the study was presented using narratives and tables. This research showed only 33.9% of the respondents were found to have good nutritional practices during their pregnancy. There was a positive significant relation between information about nutrition and family size and nutritional practices of mothers during pregnancy (P<0.001). The practices of pregnant mothers about maternal nutrition were relatively low in this study. Information about nutrition and family size of mothers had a  positive significant relation with mothers’ nutrition practices in the study area. Hence, the government in collaboration with concerned bodies should focus on nutritional education and information about nutrition to increase the practices of pregnant mothers on maternal nutrition during pregnancy in the study area.