Dietary patterns of Polish pregnant women in reference to prepregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain

During the life cycle of a woman, pregnancy is the period when she is most open to changing her behaviour and lifestyle for the benefit of the child's development. Lifestyle changes include also the diet correction. The objective of the study was to assess, through identified dietary patterns, the diets of women in the second and third trimester of pregnancy in relation to their nutritional status before and during pregnancy.

The study was conducted among pregnant women, participants of childbirth education classes at the Institute of Mother and Child, based on food frequency questionnaire. The study involved 392 women in the age 19-40 years (first single pregnancy without complications). Dietary patterns were identified using the k-means method, based on groups of products.

Three dietary patters were identified in the study group of women: dietary pattern 1 - cereal-milk diet, dietary pattern 2 - vegetable-fruit diet and dietary pattern 3 - cottage cheese-vegetable diet. Dietary pattern 3 occurred in 43.9% of underweight women, in 45.5% of women with normal weight and in 43.1% of women with excess body weight. Dietary pattern 1 occurred in about one third of women and dietary pattern 2 in about 20% in each group. A greater diversity in the frequency of identified dietary patterns was observed in relation to weight gain during pregnancy. The identified dietary patterns differed significantly in terms of the profile of macronutrients, most minerals and vitamins - E, C and B group vitamins.

The identified dietary patterns and their energy and nutritional profile indicate the need for monitoring the diets and nutritional education of pregnant women.