Dietary Assessment of Healthy Pregnant and Lactating Women with Reference to Healthy Non-Pregnant, Non-Lactating (NPNL) Women Belonging to Low Socio –Economic Group

The present hospital based diet survey study was carried on 395 pregnant, 195 lactating and 120 healthy non-pregnant, non-lactating (NPNL) women belonging to age group 20-45 years with low socio-economic background. The pregnant and the lactating women were taken from the antenatal clinic and the NPNL women were taken from other outpatient departments of the same hospital. The aim of the study was to compare the nutrient intake of the subjects with the revised Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) (2010) as recommended by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Hyderabad, India. Any kind of nutritional deficiency during these two important physiological conditions can lead to increased chances for both maternal and infant mobidity and mortality. The diet survey was carried on using the 24-hour recall method. The result suggested that apart from the fat intake, the intake of all the other nutrients like proteins, energy, calcium and iron were found to be deficient among the pregnant and lactating subjects when compared with the RDA.