Dietary intake in third trimester of pregnancy and prevalence of LBW: A community-based study in a rural area of Haryana

oleh: Kumar Rajesh, Aggarwal Arun, Rao B

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2007-01-01

Deskripsi

<b>Objectives:</b> (1) To assess the magnitude of the problem of low birth weight (LBW) in a rural area of Haryana (2) To study the association of caloric and protein intake in third trimester of pregnancy with birth weight. <b>Study Design:</b> Longitudinal study. <b>Sample Size:</b> One hundred and forty pregnant women. <b>Study Area:</b> Ten purposively selected villages in the rural area of Naraingarh block in Haryana. <b>Study Tool and Data Collection:</b> Pre-tested questionnaire was administered to record information regarding socioeconomic status, antenatal care, nature of physical activity and dietary intake in 24 h between September 2001 and August 2002. <b>Data Analysis:</b> For categorical variables, Chi-square test was used, and for numerical variables, t-test was used. Multivariate analysis was done for variables that were significant in bivariate analysis. <b>Results:</b> The prevalence of low birth weight (less than 2500 g) was 24.3&#x0025; (95&#x0025; CI 17.4-32.2&#x0025;). The mean caloric intake during three dietary assessments was 1695 &#x00B1; 182.8 kcal. The mean protein intake during three dietary assessments was 50.8 &#x00B1; 9.27 g. The higher prevalence of LBW babies was observed in pregnant women with mean caloric intake of less than 1500 kcal and mean protein intake of less than 40 g (P &lt; 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the association of caloric intake (P &lt; 0.01) and weight of the mother (P = 0.02) was independently associated with LBW. <b>Conclusions:</b> Low caloric intake in the third trimester of pregnancy and maternal weight are significantly associated with the birth weight of babies.