Nutritional Status and Associated Factors Among Women in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: Pregnant women in their third trimester require adequate nutritional intake for a healthy delivery. However, nutritional intake status during this period remains poorly understood. This study aimed to clarify the nutritional intake of pregnant women during the third trimester of pregnancy and identify related factors. Materials and Methods: This study examined the dietary status of 291 women who gave birth in the Tohoku region of Japan in the third trimester of pregnancy. Results: The study found that compared to the Japanese Dietary Intake Standards (2020), 99.7% of pregnant women consumed excessive amounts of salt, 82.5% consumed saturated fat and 89.0% did not consume enough iron. It was also found that pregnant women with higher education levels and a normal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) tend to have ideal eating habits. A negative correlation was observed between pre-pregnancy BMI and weight gain during pregnancy (partial r = −0.336, p < 0.001), indicating that the necessary nutrients are insufficient to suppress excessive weight gain. Conclusion: This study shows that pregnant women in their third trimester require personalized and appropriate nutritional support to ensure both weight gain control and adequate nutritional intake. 1 | Introduction Nutrition during pregnancy affects both the health of the pregnant woman and foetal growth. Persistent undernutrition increases the risk of preterm birth, foetal growth restriction and lifestyle-related diseases later in life [1, 2], while overnutrition increases the risk of gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes mellitus, raises caesarean section rates and affects foetal development and long-term health [3-6]. During pregnancy , particularly in the third trimester, the growing uterus exerts increasing pressure on the stomach, making it challenging to consume large quantities of food. However, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (JMHLW) recommends increasing the amount of food consumed during this period [7] due to the rapid increase in foetal weight. Proper nutritional management during this period is essential to ensure both maternal health and optimal foetal development. The percentage of single infants with low birth weight in Japan has increased from 5.1% in 1975 to 9.4% in 2019 [8], surpassing the global average of 6.5%, as reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [9]. One possible explanation for this trend is the high proportion of underweight women of childbearing age. In Japan, more than 20% of women This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.