Food habits in mexican pregnant adolescents according to their civil status

Abstract

Objective: To identify the feeding habits of pregnant adolescents in four different civil status: married, cohabiting with a partner, single with no partner and single with a partner. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 321 pregnant adolescents aged 13 to 19 years old who attended the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara Dr. Juan I Menchaca, Guadalajara (Jalisco, Mexico) were included. They were healthy, in any trimester of pregnancy and had either a low or medium-low socioeconomic status. The civil status of adolescents was stratified into: a) married, b) cohabiting with a partner, c) single with a partner and d) single without a partner. Socio-demographic, economic and feeding habits data were included. ANOVA, post-hoc tests for Chi2, odds ratio and logistic regression models were used. Results: The frequency of married adolescents was 9.3%; 59.8% of the adolescents were cohabiting, 15.3% of the adolescents were single without a partner and 15.6% of the adolescents were single with a partner. Low schooling (OR 2.6 [1.5-4.4]) and occupation in housework (OR 4.47 [1.99-10.0]) predominated among adolescents in cohabitating with a partner; an occupation at home (OR 0.28 [0.127 to 0.61]) and unaccompanied dining (OR 4.12 [1.62-10.8]) were the factors with the most epidemiological significance in single without a partner adolescents. The consumption of vegetables was significantly lower in married adolescents and cohabiting-with-partner adolescents; consumption of beans and sweet bread was significantly lower in pregnant married adolescents. Conclusion: Because some variables and eating habits depended on civil status, it is pertinent to analyze them in each group of pregnant teenagers separately.