Assessment of Eating Habits and Preconception and Gestational Nutritional Status of Women Who Attended the Prenatal Service of a Brazilian University Hospital.
Pregnancy is a period of significant physiological, psychological and behavioral changes for women, leading to changes in their routines and lifestyle. The physiological alterations observed during pregnancy are mainly due to hormonal factors, such as the increase in progesterone and estrogen produced by the placenta, and changes in maternal metabolism that are necessary to meet
the demands raised by the rapid growth and development of the conceptus during pregnancy.
Adequate nutritional status in the preconception phase and during pregnancy impacts the health of the mother and the fetus. Both malnutrition and excess adiposity interfere in a harmful way in the process known as “Developmental Programming (DP)” of the baby, predisposing the conceptus to a greater risk of metabolic diseases. DP refers to the long-term health effect determined by a set of environmental exposures during the infant’s first 1000-days.
Pregnant patients at the obstetric clinic were invited to answer a questionnaire in a private environment, taking an average of 15-minutes. The questionnaire consisted of about 20 questions,
with closed multiple-choice questions and discursive answers. It was possible to assess preconception BMI and BMI for GA, eating habits, and physical activity. The interpretation of BMI for GA was based on the Atalah classification. Furthermore, among individuals in the high-risk group who consumed sweets, the percentage of patients who had a weekly frequency of 5 to 7-days a week was substantially lower than the percentage in the low-risk group
Obes Res Open J. 2022; 9(1): 1-6. doi: 10.17140/OROJ-9-149
