标题：Consumption pattern and dietary practices of pregnant women during second trimester in Paddipalai divisional Secretariat area of Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka
摘要：This study was conducted in antenatal health care clinics at Paddipalai Divisional Secretariat area of Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka during January 2015 to May 2015 to collect data on the eating habit of pregnant women. A total of 55 pregnant women at 12-24 weeks of pregnancy were identified and chosen by random sampling from the seven health centers. Personal interview was conducted privately in the local language (Tamil) with the duration of 20 to 30 minutes. Pre-tested structured questionnaires was used to collect primary data and food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate the frequency of eating different food items. Weight of pregnant women was measured by using solar digital weighing scale of bathroom beam balance scale developed by SECA (Germany). Height was measured in centimeters using a rod attached to the weighing scale and body mass index (BMI) calculated as weight/height2 (kg/m2). Warrior digital Body Mass Caliper from Sequoia fitness products USA was used to measure the percentage of Body fat. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 19. Results revealed that, 58% of the pregnant mothers were between the age ranges of 20-35. Only 1.8% had university level education while 90.9% had secondary education, 49.1% earn income through labour. On food intake, majority (87.2%) consumed rice on a daily basis. For protein intake, 41.8% consumed fish curry 2-4 times a week while 49.1% consumed chicken curry once in a week. Banana (40%) accounted for the mostly consumed fruit on daily basis. Leafy vegetable (58.2%) are frequently used as 2-4 times per week. Of the milk and milk products, milk is the one that has higher percent (52.7%) of daily consumption, while curd and butter were consumed once in a week by 25.5% and 9.1%, respectively. Low BMI in pregnant women was also recorded in the study area that may leads to low birth weight (LBW) of infants. Therefore, awareness campaign is needed to sensitize the pregnant women on the importance of good nutrition especially fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
关键词：Antenatal health care clinics;Nutrition;Pregnant women;Body mass index;Low birth weight
