Tehzeeb Zulfiqar, Farwa Rizvi, Samina Jalali, Shami S A, Nasira Tasnim, Sawrat Jahan.
Low birth weight and relationship with maternal dietary habits during third trimester of low risk pregnancies in a hospital based study in Pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;1(1):11-6.

Objectives: The study is conducted to observe the relationship of maternal diet in third trimester of pregnancy with the neonatal birth weight, in the women at a low risk of delivering low birth-weight neonates. Methods: This hospital based follow up study was conducted during the months of April-November 2007 at the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Unit of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. Pregnant women with low risk of delivering low birth weight neonates were registered at 26 weeks of pregnancy, by employing consecutive (non-probability) sampling technique. Dietary history was taken by a semi structured Food Frequency questionnaire and 24 hours dietary recall at the time of registration. Written informed consent was obtained. Results: Thirteen percent of women with normal pregnancies delivered low birth weight neonates weighing <2500 grams (including preterm and full term neonates). The women delivering low birth weight neonates had significantly lower consumption of calories (P= 0.0002), carbohydrate (P=0.008), and lipid (P=0.00005) during the third trimester. In addition the mean maternal weekly weight gain and maternal hemoglobin concentration was also significantly lower in the women who delivered LBW neonates. The frequency of total protein, meat, carbohydrates and fruits consumption per week, calculated from food frequency questionnaire conducted at the start of third trimester was also lower in the women who delivered LBW neonates. The consumption of soft drinks and tea per week was higher in the women who delivered LBW neonates, although this finding was not statistically significant. Conclusion: This study suggests the importance of good maternal nutrition during pregnancy for the optimal newborn weight.

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