Low Levels of some Nutritional Parameters of Pregnant Women in a Rural Community of South East Nigeria: Implications for the Attainment of the Millennium Developmental Goal
Ann. med. health sci. res. (Online)
; 2(1): 49-55, 2012. ilus
Article
in English
| AIM
| ID: biblio-1259223
Responsible library:
CG1.1
ABSTRACT
In developing countries; under nutrition is common; and this plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of malaria and anemia. Indeed it has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Unfortunately; published evidence concerning the situation is lacking. Objectives:
To evaluate some nutritional function indices of pregnant women in a rural Nigerian community. Subjects andMethods:
This is a cross sectional study involving of 171 pregnant women from a rural area in South-eastern Nigeria. They included 72 and 99 women in their second and third trimesters respectively. The control group was of 60 women; matched in age; parity and socioeconomic conditions; non-pregnant; non-menstruating and non lactating apparently healthy women. The parameters measured by standard methods included serum iron; total proteins; albumin; globulin; packed cell volume and hemoglobin.Results:
The results obtained from control group; second and third trimesters; recorded as Mean (SEM) were 134.60(3.12) ?g/L; 101.20(4.48) ?g/L and 91.87(3.42) ?g/L respectively for iron; 69.12(0.80) g/L; 63.60(0.71) g/L and 57.74(0.75) g/L for total proteins; 42.95(0.92) g/L; 35.74(1.00) g/L and 35.26(0.64) g/L for albumin; 26.77(1.00) g/L; 27.78(1.07) g/L and 22.93(0.88) g/L for globulin; 32.80(0.36); 27.92(0.37) and 27.73(0.34) for packed cell volume; and 11.25(0.11) g/L; 9.59(0.13) g/L and 9.57(0.14) g/L for hemoglobin respectively. These results showed that all the parameters decreased significantly in pregnancy (P0.001) except globulin that did not show immediate; significant decrease.Conclusion:
There is a general decrease in the nutrition parameters studied among the pregnant women from our study area; indicating under-nutrition. Urgent measures should be taken to improve the nutritional status of rural dwellers especially the antioxidant micronutrients
Full text:
Available
Index:
AIM (Africa)
Main subject:
Rural Population
/
Pregnancy
/
Poverty Areas
/
Lakes
/
Rural Areas
/
Nutritional Status
/
Micronutrients
/
Pregnant Women
/
Nigeria
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Risk factors
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann. med. health sci. res. (Online)
Year:
2012
Type:
Article
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