Factors Influencing Dietary Patterns during Pregnancy in a Culturally Diverse Society

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 12; no. 11; p. 3242
• Main Authors: Fernández-Gómez, Elisabet, Luque-Vara, Trinidad, Moya-Fernández, Pablo José, López-Olivares, María, Gallardo-Vigil, Miguel Ángel, Enrique-Mirón, Carmen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.10.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Alcohol; Body mass index; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cultural Diversity; Diet; Diet Surveys; Diet, Healthy - ethnology; Diet, Healthy - statistics & numerical data; Diet, Western - statistics & numerical data; dietary patterns; Employment; Exercise; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; factor loadings; Feeding Behavior - ethnology; Female; Food; Humans; Influence; Life Style; lifestyle; Lifestyles; Logistic Models; Low level; Nutrients; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Nutritional Status; Physical activity; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimesters - ethnology; pregnancy-related factors; Pregnant Women - ethnology; Questionnaires; Religion; sociodemographic factors; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic Factors; Spain; Womens health; Spain; Ceuta & Melilla Spain; sociodemographic factors; dietary patterns; pregnancy; factor loadings; lifestyle; pregnancy-related factors
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu12113242

The aim of this study was to identify dietary patterns in pregnant women and to assess the relationships between sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and pregnancy-related factors. This is a descriptive, correlational study involving 306 pregnant women in Melilla (Spain) in any trimester of pregnancy. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used. Dietary patterns were determined via exploratory factor analysis and ordinal logistic regression using the proportional odds model. Three dietary patterns were identified: Western, mixed, and prudent. Sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and pregnancy-related factors influencing dietary quality were established. The Western dietary pattern was considered the least recommended despite being the most common among women who live in Melilla ( = 0.03), are Christian ( = 0.01), are primiparous women ( < 0.001), and are in their first or second trimester ( = 0.02). Unemployed pregnant women were also more likely to have a less healthy dietary pattern ( = -0.716; = 0.040). The prudent dietary pattern, the healthiest of the three, was most commonly observed among Muslim women ( = 0.01), women with more than two children ( < 0.001), and women in the third trimester of pregnancy ( = 0.02). Pregnant women who engaged in no physical activity or a low level of physical activity displayed a mixed pattern ( < 0.001). This study provides evidence on the factors influencing dietary patterns during pregnancy and suggests that more specific nutrition programmes should be developed to improve the nutritional status of pregnant women.