Dietary Patterns in Pregnant Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence and pregnancy increase nutritional needs. Pregnant adolescents have higher energy requirements to maintain maternal health and ensure adequate fetal growth and development.Aim:Identify patterns of diet consumption among Pregnant adolescents. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study between November 2014 and July 2016 among teenage mothers. Food intake was analyzed using asemiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). We identified the food patterns as a posteriori using cluster analysis. Results: 294 adolescents participated in the study. The mean age was 17.83 ± 1.29 years. Sixty-five percent of participants self-declared as Caucasian and 83.3% were primiparous. Pre-gestational BMI was 23.71 ± 5.04 kg/m2, and 42.9% of the sample showed excessive weight gain during pregnancy.