Effect of nutritional education on pregnancy outcomes and dietary intake / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of nutrition education on the outcomes and dietary intake during pregnancy.MethodsFrom January 2007 to December 2008,240 healthy pregnant outpatients were selected from Jining First People's Hospital.Subjects were randomly and equally divided into the intervention group and control group,and the intervention group received nutrition education till labor.Through the comparison of two groups,the impact of nutrition education on the outcomes and dietary intake was assessed.ResultsBirth weight of the newborn infauts was significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group( (3.15 ±0.81 )kg vs (3.33 ± 0.56)kg,t =2.04,P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the control group,the incidence rate of anemia was lower in the intervention group (45.8％ vs 59.8％,x2 =4.56,P ＜0.05).The intervention group had higher proportion of supplementation in iron,folic acid and compound vitamins (P ＜ 0.05).Significant differences were also observed in the frequency of intake fried food,pork,poultry,milk,soybean milk and fresh fruits (P ＜ 0.05).ConclusionNutrition education can improve the outcomes and dietary intake during pregnancy.