Nutritional status of pregnant women (under 20 years of age) with special emphasis on iron and folic acid status

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Pregnancy and growth have been found to have a detrimental effect on themicronutrient status of adolescent girls. Dietary studies in adolescents have shownserious shortfalls in their dietary iron and folate intake. The competition fornutrients between the fetus and a pregnant adolescent may carry the risk ofcomplications such as intrauterine growth retardation, pre-eclampsia, bothmaternal and fetal intrapartum mortality, the increased risk of birth injuries andlow birth weight.The aim of the study was to assess the nutritional status of rural black, pregnantteenagers attending the antenatal clinic at Siloam Hospital in the LimpopoProvince, with special emphasis on iron and folic acid intake, and evaluation ofthe newborn babies in terms of weight status and neural tube defects. Thenutritional status was determined in 40 pregnant and 40 non-pregnant adolescentgirls. The pregnant girls were selected during their first visit to the antenatalclinic, and the non-pregnant girls were selected from nearby schools.The demographic and dietary history questionnaires were used to collectinformation from the subjects. The dietary intake of the subjects was collected bythe completion of a pre-tested quantified food frequency questionnaire. Theanthropometric questionnaire was used to get information from the pregnantadolescents and the control group. The infant anthropometric measurementsquestionnaire provided information on the infant and the outcome of birth. Bloodwas collected from the pregnant adolescent girls and the control subjects.Anaemia was observed in 57.5% of the pregnant and 27.5% of the non-pregnantadolescents (haemoglobin

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University