Nutritional status and dietary intake of pregnant women

Abstract

Objective To evaluate weight gain during pregnancy according to the pregestational state in women who underwent prenatal care in Primary Health Care.Methods A cross-sectional study with the participation of 255 pregnant women. Socioeconomic and demographic variables were collected using a structured questionnaire. Women were evaluated for nutritional status and dietary intake. Data related to the age of the pregnant woman, gestational week, current weight, pregestational weight, and height were obtained from the prenatal follow-up form. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for statistical analysis.Results Pregestational nutritional status assessment showed that 43.2% (n=110) of the women started gestation with overweight and 4.3% (n=11) started with low weight. 51% percent (n=130) gained gestational weight above the recommended level. The mean age of women with pregestational BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² was significantly higher than that of those with BMI <25 kg/m² (p<0.001). Total energy (p=0.037) and calcium (p=0.004) intake were higher in women with weight gain above the recommended.Discussion The results presented highlight the importance of strategies in public health to avoid excess weight gain during pregnancy.Conclusion Pregnant women presented a gestational weight gain above the recommended maximum value according to pregestational BMI, which may contribute to adverse maternal and infant outcomes.