Associations of a fast lifestyle and dietary intake during pregnancy

Abstract

 Currently, pregnant women tend to have an increased incidence of malnutrition as it relates to fast-paced and competitive working lifestyles. An analytical cross-sectional study was performed to study the relationship between a fast lifestyle and nutritional intake in a sample of pregnant women attending antenatal services in Narathiwat Hospital between June 2016 to February 2017. A total of 143 people were divided into two groups, groups with a slow and a fast lifestyle, with 73 people in each group. The relationship between lifestyle and dietary intake was analyzed using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. The results showed that the age, educational level, and the personal income of both groups were statistically different. The median daily intake of energy, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamin C and niacin were not significantly different between the two groups (p>0.05). The slow lifestyle group received substantially more daily calcium and iron than the fast lifestyle group (p<0.05). The slow lifestyle group received significantly more vitamin A, B1, and B2 than the fast lifestyle group (p<0.01). In conclusion, there was no difference in the daily intake of energy, carbohydrates, protein, and fat between pregnant women with slow and fast lifestyles. Nevertheless, the slow lifestyle subjects received higher amounts of calcium, iron, vitamin A, B1, and B2 than the fast lifestyle subjects. However, compared to the dietary reference intake (DRI), it was found that pregnant women who lead slow lifestyles received sufficient amounts of vitamin B2 compared to the fast lifestyle group. Since the fast lifestyle pregnant women are at risk of malnutrition, healthcare professionals should educate them on how to eat properly and meet their body needs, including encouraging pregnant women to consume iron, folic, iodine, and calcium, according to the pregnancy plan.