Dietary Practice and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Gondar Town North West, Ethiopia, 2014

Proper food and good nutrition are essential for survival, physical growth, mental development, performance and productivity, health and well-being. Pregnancy is a critical phase in a woman's life, when the expectant mother needs optimal nutrients of superior food qualities to support the developing fetus. The objective of this study was to assess the dietary practice and associated factors among pregnant women in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia. Community based cross sectional study was undertaken from March to April 2014 in Gondar town. The data were collected by using interviewer aided questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS windows version (16.0). Multiple logistic regression was run to assess factors associated with the dependent variable at P<0.05 and to control the confounders. This study showed that good dietary practice was found to be 40.1% (95% CI: 36.1-44.3%) during pregnancy. Mothers education, monthly income, nutrition information and dietary knowledge had a positive significant with pregnant mothers’ dietary practices (P<0.001). As dietary practices of pregnant mothers were relatively low in this study, the government in collaboration and a strong integration with concerned bodies should be focused on providing nutritional education to increase the practices of pregnant mothers on maternal nutrition during pregnancy.