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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Preferences of women for web-based nutritional information in pregnancy
R A K Kennedy1, L Mullaney1, C M E Reynolds2
1School of Biological Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology, Kevin Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Objectives:
During pregnancy, women are increasingly turning to web-based resources for information. This study examined the use of web-based nutritional information by women during pregnancy and explored their preferences.
Study Design:
Cross-sectional observational study.
Methods:
Women were enrolled at their convenience from a large maternity hospital. Clinical and sociodemographic details were collected and women's use of web-based resources was assessed using a detailed questionnaire.
Results:
Of the 101 women, 41.6% were nulliparous and the mean age was 33.1 years (19-47 years). All women had internet access and only 3% did not own a smartphone. Women derived pregnancy-related nutritional information from a range of online resources, most commonly: What to Expect When You're Expecting (15.1%), Babycenter (12.9%), and Eumom (9.7%). However, 24.7% reported using Google searches. There was minimal use of publically funded or academically supported resources. The features women wanted in a web-based application were recipes (88%), exercise advice (71%), personalized dietary feedback (37%), social features (35%), videos (24%) and cooking demonstrations (23%).
Conclusions:
This survey highlights the risk that pregnant women may get nutritional information from online resources which are not evidence-based. It also identifies features that women want from a web-based nutritional resource.
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