Factors Influencing Dietary Practices of Pregnant Women at Njoro Sub County Hospital, Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Worldwide,factorsinfluencingmaternaldietarypracticeshasbeenamajorissueofconcernamongpregnantwomen.Thisisbecausegooddietarypracticesareimportanttothemotherandthebaby.NegativeinappropriatedietarypracticesisoneofthegreatestchallengesgloballyandinKenyarespectively.Inappropriatedietarypracticesmaybringoutseveralcomplicationssuchasprematurebirths,lowbirthweightandmacrosomicbabiesamongothers.ThecurrentstudythereforeassessedthefactorsinfluencingdietarypracticesofpregnantwomenatNjoroSubCountyHospital,NakuruCounty,Kenya.Descriptivesurveyresearchdesignwasusedinthestudy.Simplerandomsamplingtechniquewasusedtosample80pregnantwomenattendingantenatalclinicatNjoroSubCountyHospital,NakuruCounty.Datawasharvestedthroughquestionnairestoassessthedietarypracticesaswellasdietarydiversityoftheexpectantmothers.Datawasanalyzedusingdescriptivestatistics,moresotheuseofpercentages.ThestudyindicatesthatmorethanhalfofthepregnantwomenattendingantennalclinicatNjoroSubCountyhospitalhadgooddietarypracticeswith66.7%oftherespondentsconsumingthreemealsadaywith13.3%havingtwomeals.However,20.0%ofthepregnantmothershadonemeal(others)daily.Moreover,amajorityofthepregnantwomenattainedwomendietarydiversityscoreswith90%consumingmorethan5foodgroups(WDDS)with10%notmeetingtheindicatorofmorethan5foodgroups.Althoughstarcheswerefairlyconsumed(chapattiat33.3%,rice56.7%andugali36.7%2-4timesaweek),animalproteinslikechickenwerelessfrequentlytaken.Additionally,vegetableandfruitintakewaslow(Managu/kunde23.3%,spinach,30%).ThestudyrecommendsthatpregnantwomenattendingantenatalclinicatNjoroSubCountyHospitalshouldbesensitizedontheimportanceofbalanceddietandencouragedtoconsumebalancedmealsthreetimesaday.Furthermore,mothersshouldstartkitchengardeningtoenablethemhavediversifieddietsatacheaperprice.Secondly,theCountygovernmentshouldestablishpoliciesandguidelinesondiversityofdietsandfrequencyofconsumptiontosupportmothersinmaintainingappropriateandhealthydietarypractices