Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T04:11:49.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Food and nutrient intakes among pregnant women in rural Tamil Nadu, South India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Lena Theilgaard Andersen ,
Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted ,
Birgitte Bruun Nielsen  and
Suguna Rangasamy
Lena Theilgaard Andersen
Affiliation:
Research Department of Human Nutrition, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Rolighedsvej 30, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark:
Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted*
Affiliation:
Research Department of Human Nutrition, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Rolighedsvej 30, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark:
Birgitte Bruun Nielsen
Affiliation:
Perinatal Epidemiological Research Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark:
Suguna Rangasamy
Affiliation:
1/81 E Thoppukkadu, Gnanasubramani Nagar, Fairlands, Salem 636016, Tamil Nadu, India
*
*Corresponding author: Email sht@kvl.dk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objectives:

To study pregnant women's diet at food and nutrient levels and how these match recommendations; to describe how factors such as education level, economy and folk dietetics influence the women's food choice; and to give suggestions for the improvement of nutrition education in the existing antenatal care systems.

Design and subjects:

Thirty pregnant women in the last trimester were interviewed three times using a 24-hour dietary recall with weighing of foods and recipes of dishes. Interviews regarding health, nutrition and socio-economic status, and measurements of weight and height of the women, were conducted.

Setting:

Rural parts of Salem District, Tamil Nadu, South India.

Results and conclusion:

The women's diet (without supplements) was insufficient in energy and all nutrients except fat, compared with the Indian recommendations. Aggravating low intakes of micronutrients were found which were reflected in low intakes of foods other than rice. Eating customs and economy appeared to influence the women's food choice negatively in relation to recommendations while factors such as education level, family type, pregnancy number and folk dietetics did not seem to have a negative effect. The amounts of foods recommended, especially green leafy vegetables, must be shown to the women. The nutrition advice given by all levels of health providers must be the same and based on cheap, local, commonly consumed foods.

Keywords

Food intakeFolk dieteticsNutrition educationTamil NaduIndia
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , April 2003 , pp. 131 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2003

References

1Ghassemi, H.Women and nutrition – issues in need of a global focus. ACC/SCN Nutrition Policy Discussion Paper No. 6. Women and Nutrition 1990; 6: 145–66.Google Scholar
2Norton, R.Maternal nutrition during pregnancy as it affects infant growth, development and health. SCN News 1994; 11: 10–4.Google Scholar
3McGanity, WJ, Dawson, EB, Fogelman, A. Embryonic development, pregnancy, and lactation. In: Shils, ME, Olson, JA, Shike, M, eds. ,Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 8th ed. London: Lea Febiger, 1994; 705–27.Google Scholar
4Kramer, MS. Determinants of low birth weight: methodological assessment and meta-analysis. WHO Bull. 1987; 65: 663–737.Google ScholarPubMed
5United Nations Children's Fund. The State of the World's Children 1998. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998; 6–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6 Government of Tamil Nadu. State programme of action for the child in Tamil Nadu, India. Third draft, 1993.Google Scholar
7Bhatia, BD, Banerjee, D, Agarwal, DK, Agarwal, KN. Dietary intakes of urban and rural pregnant, lactating and non-pregnant, non-lactating vegetarian women of Varanasi. Ind. J. Med. Res. 1981; 74: 680–7.Google Scholar
8Bhatnagar, S, Dharamshaktu, NS, Sundaram, KR, Seth, V. Effect on food supplementation in the last trimester of pregnancy and early post-natal period on maternal weight and infant growth. Ind. J. Med. Res. 1983; 77: 366–72.Google ScholarPubMed
9Hira, CK, Pathak, V, Murgai, V. Nutritional status of pregnant Punjabi women in relation to education and economic level. Ecol. Food Nutr. 1986; 19: 147–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Panwar, B, Punia, D. Nutrient intake of rural pregnant women of Haryana State, Northern India: relationship between income and education. Int. J. Food Sci. Nutr. 1998; 49: 391–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Rao, S, Yajnik, CS, Kanade, A, Fall, CHD, Margetts, BM, Jackson, AA, et al. Intake of micronutrient-rich foods in rural Indian mothers is associated with the size of their babies at birth: Pune Maternal Nutrition Study. J. Nutr. 2001; 131: 1217–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Ferro-Luzzi, GE. Food avoidance of pregnant women in Tamil Nadu. Ecol. Food Nutr. 1973; 2: 259–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13Nichter, M, Nichter, M. The ethnophysiology and folk dietetics of pregnancy: a case study from South India. Hum. Org. 1983; 42: 235–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Nichter, M.Cultural dimensions of hot, cold and sema in Sinhalese health culture. Soc. Sci. Med. 1987; 25: 377–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Pool, R.Hot and cold as an explanatory model: the example of Bharuch district in Gujarat, India. Soc. Sci. Med. 1987; 25: 389–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Hutter, I.Being Pregnant in Rural South India. Nutrition of Women and Well-being of Children. Amsterdam: Thesis Publishers, 1994.Google Scholar
17Nielsen, BB. To deliver a small baby is easy, but to save a small baby is difficult: community studies on antenatal care in rural Tamil Nadu, South India. Ph.D. thesis, University of Aarhus, Denmark, 1998.Google Scholar
18Gopalan, C, Rama Satri, BV, Balasubramanian, SC.Nutritive Value of Indian Foods. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, 1996.Google Scholar
19Dibba, B, Weaver, LT, Hudson, GJ. Water content of cooked rice is related to variety and cooking method. Nutr. Res. 1991; 11: 1397–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Winslow, M, Hutchings, S, Knight, J, Spaulding, L. Winslow's English–Tamil Dictionary. New Delhi: Asian Educational Service, 1994.Google Scholar
21Gopalan, C, Rama Satri, BV, Balasubramanian, SC. Nutritive Value of Indian Foods. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, 1987.Google Scholar
22Nutrition Foundation of India, 1985. http://www.nutritionfoundation.org/ARCHIVES/JAN85A.htm.Google Scholar
23Mavalankar, DV, Gray, RH, Trivedi, CR, Parikh, VC. Risk factors for small for gestational age birth in Ahmedabad, India. J. Trop. Pediat. 1994; 40: 285–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24Piers, LS, Shetty, PS. Basal metabolic rates of Indian women. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1993; 47: 586–91.Google Scholar
25World Health Organization (WHO). Energy and Protein Requirements. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Meeting. WHO Technical Report Series. Geneva: WHO, 1985.Google Scholar
26Swaminathan, M. Diet and nutrition in India. In: Principles of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2nd ed. Bangalore: Bangalore Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd, 1997; 279–85.Google Scholar
27Ferguson, EL, Gadowsky, SL, Huddle, J-M, Cullinan, TR, Lehrfeld, J, Gibson, RS. An interactive 24-hour recall technique for assessing the adequacy of trace mineral intake of rural Malawian women: its advantages and limitations. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1995; 49: 565–78Google Scholar