Pregnant Women Diet Quality and Its Sociodemographic Determinants in Southwestern Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Diet diversity of pregnant women is associated with nutrition sufficiency, micronutrient adequacy, and pregnancy outcomes. However, the sociodemographic determinants of diet diversity among pregnant women in low-income countries are not well studied. Objective: The analysis was undertaken to study the determinants of high dietary diversity and consumption of micronutrient-rich foods by pregnant women from rural Bangladesh. Methods: Pregnant women (508) were randomly selected from southwestern Bangladesh and interviewed to collect data about diet and sociodemographic characteristics. A 24-hour recall was used to collect information about diet. Diet diversity score was calculated for 9 major food groups. All analyses were conducted using STATA SE 12. Result: The overall mean diet diversity score was low at 4.28 and was significantly high among pregnant women who have higher educational achievement, whose husbands’ occupation was business, who live in households of 4 or more family members, and who were dwelling in a house with more than 1 room. Highest gap on knowledge and consumption was reported for 3 food groups including dairy foods, eggs, and dark green leafy vegetables. Consumption of dairy and eggs was lower among women from low socioeconomic status, but no significant association was found between sociodemographic characteristics and consumption of leafy vegetables. Conclusion: Our analysis has shown that diet quality of pregnant women was poor and intake of micronutrient-rich foods was low despite having knowledge about the importance of these foods, underscoring the need for promoting the diet quality in developing countries through behavior change communication programs.