Dietary Quantity and Diversity among Anemic Pregnant Women in Madura Island, Indonesia

Dietary diversity and quantity are important for pregnant women, particularly anemic pregnant women. This study aimed to analyze the association between dietary quantity and diversity among anemic pregnant women. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 at Madura Island, Indonesia, and involved 152 anemic pregnant women. Hemoglobin concentration was analyzed by the cyanmethemoglobin method. Dietary quantity was measured by the 2 × 24 h recall. Dietary diversity was determined by Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women of Reproductive Age (MDD-W). Spearman’s rank association was performed to analyze the association between dietary diversity and quantity. The median of hemoglobin concentration was 10.1 g/dL, and 57.2% pregnant women had mild anemia. Most of the pregnant women had low adequacy levels of energy and macro- and micronutrients (except for iron). More than half (57.9%) of anemic pregnant women had reached minimum dietary diversity. Family size (p=0.048) and gestational age (p=0.004) had negative associations with dietary diversity. Dietary diversity had positive associations with energy (p=0.029), protein (p=0.003), vitamin A (p=0.001), vitamin C (p=0.004), and zinc (p=0.015) adequacy levels. Dietary diversity had no significant association with calcium (p=0.078) and iron adequacy level (p=0.206). High prevalence of mild and moderate anemia was found among pregnant women in their third trimester. Anemic pregnant women already consumed food with minimum dietary diversity but did not meet dietary quantity. Increasing dietary quantity is a priority for anemic pregnant women.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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