Nutritional status of Moroccan pregnant women and the birth weight of their newborn: a case-control study in the province of El Jadida

Maternal malnutrition is a global concern whose consequences for newborns are intrauterine growth retardation, fetal hypotrophy and exposure to risks of pathologies in adulthood.

The aim of this study was to assess and compare the diet quality and nutritional status of pregnant women at the time of childbirth while assessing their newborn's weight at birth.

The study involved 400 parturient, divided into two groups of 200 each, the controls who have just given birth to newborns of normal weight and the cases who have just given birth to babies of low birth weight (LBW). Information on food intakes and dietary habits were collected using questionnaires and anthropometric parameters were measured.

The mean body mass index (BMI) of the cases was 25.93 ± 2.64 kg/m² vs. 28.25 ± 2.75 kg/m² in the controls. The dietary diversity and variety scores were higher in the controls than in the cases. Indeed means were 6.87 ± 1.30 vs. 8.88 ± 1.35 food groups for the diversity scores and 11.77 ± 1.57 vs. 15.90 ± 2.09 food items for the variety scores in the cases and the controls respectively. The average daily intakes of folates, calcium, iron and zinc were lower than the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) for both groups. The daily calcium intake represents only 1/5th of the RDI for the cases and 1/3 for the controls. Average dietary iron intake was insufficient at only 49% of the daily requirement for cases vs. 66.88% for controls while folates accounts for 64.33% of the RDA for the cases.

Data from this study shows that the diets of women who have given birth to low birth weight infants are poorly diversified, poorly varied, and poor in certain nutrients essential for a successful pregnancy and childbirth.