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Updated: Jan 8, 2026

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Low Calcium Intake in High-Risk Pregnant Women: What are the Associated Factors?
Daiane Sofia Morais Paulino1,2, Iara Olinda Dos Reis3, Carolina F A Amaral-Moreira3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil. dsofia@unicamp.br.
Objectives:
This study aimed to investigate the dietary calcium intake in high-risk pregnant women and determine the factors associated with the adequacy of the calcium requirements.
Methods:
A prospective cohort study was carried out with adult high-risk pregnant women, in the third trimester of pregnancy. Sociodemographic data, obstetric history, maternal comorbidity, pre-gestational body mass index were collected from medical records and three 24-h dietary recalls were performed.
Results:
A total of 125 pregnant women were included. The mean calcium intake was 652.76 ± 294.58 mg/day and 24.8% of women had adequate calcium intake. We found a correlation between low daily calcium intake (< 800 mg) with non-white pregnant women (p 0.017), and obesity (p = 0.010). Eating frequency demonstrated an inverse correlation with low daily calcium intake (p < 0.001).
Conclusions For Practice:
Dietary calcium intake was insufficiente for most high risk pregnant women in this study. Eating frequency was associated with improved calcium intake, while obesity and non-White race/ethnicity were risk factors for inadequate intake.
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