Maternal Dietary Quality and Socio-demographic Status and their Association with Food Insecurity in the St. George Region of Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Objective: This exploratory study sought to understand the relationship between food insecurity, sociodemographic status and diet quality in a sample of pregnant mothers in Trinidad. Subjects andMethods: This qualitative, descriptive study took place in five health centres of the St George East Region of the North Central Regional Health Authority in Trinidad and Tobago. The target population was healthy expectant mothers of any age and gravida with singleton pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks' gestation. A convenience sample from each of the health centres was taken. Two hypotheses explored the relationship among the three main variables of sociodemographic status, dietary quality and food security status (ELCSA). Results: Seventy-one per cent of the mothers had unhealthy pre-pregnancy body mass index. The majority of mothers had a moderate diet quality as well as sociodemographic status. Forty-four per cent of households were food secure and 7% experienced extreme food insecurity. Households with children were less food secure and experienced more severe grades (moderate and extreme) of food insecurity as compared to households without children. Food insecurity was negatively correlated with sociodemographic status and consumption of low dietary quality foods positively correlated with sociodemographic status. Food insecurity was not statistically significant with diet quality. Multi-gravidity was not statistically significant with higher diet quality. Conclusions: Contrary to previous studies using the ELCSA, a better social standing was not linked to being food insecure or a high diet quality; as sociodemographic status increased, diet quality actually decreased. Multigravidity status also did not affect diet quality. Thus, other factors may be influencing dietary choices for pregnant women.