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Revista Matronas

Revista Matronas

AGOSTO 2016 N° 2 Volumen 4

Dha intake in pregnant women and factors associated to dha use

Section: Originales

Authors

1 Esther Conde Puertas, 2 Inmaculada Hernández Herrerías, 3 Irina Alonso Escalante     

Position

1 Matrona. Hospital Huércal-Overa (Almería). Servicio Andaluz de Salud. Máster en Investigación y Avances en Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública. Máster en Investigación en nutrición y dietética. 2 Matrona. Complejo Hospitalario Reina Sofía. Hospital materno-infantil (Córdoba). 3 Matrona. Hospital Rotunda. Dublín (Irlanda).

Contact email: esthercpu@gmail.com

Abstract

Introduction: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake is considered essential during the perinatal period because of its multiple benefits for mother and infant health.
Purpose: we aimed at assessing maternal DHA intake during the third trimester in pregnant women and evaluating factors related to DHA use.
Methods: a nutritional crossover study was carried out to assess DHA intake. A sample consisting of 56 pregnant women in the catching area for the regional hospital in Huércal-Overa,  Almería, Spain was selected. A questionnaire on food intake frequency, including the main source for DHA (i.e., fish and seafood) was administered.
Results: mean DHA intake was 370.76 (SD: 182.08) mg/day (20.61-754.51 mg/day). Although most women (91.1%) reported a common fish intake with at least 3-4 serving per week, a large number of them took less than the recommended daily dose (200 mg/day). Among the reasons for such a low intake, 37.5% of women took less than a weekly serving of oily fish, the main DHA source. A positive association between the variables “no work outside the home” (p= 0.018) or “awareness of the importance of omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA, present in fish” (p= 0.032) and DHA intake was found. About 67.9 % of women were not aware of the importance of DHA intake during pregnancy.
Conclusions: a large number of women (19.6%) are at risk of an inadequate DHA intake. Importantly, there is a lack of education of such women on the importance of an adequate fish intake as a source for DHA during pregnancy. This fact reflects the need for an appropriate health education on nutrition made available by health workers.

Keywords:

breast feeding; docosahexaenoic acid; fish; omega-3 fatty acids; pregnancy

Versión en Español

Título:

Ingesta de DHA en mujeres gestantes y factores asociados a su consumo

Artículo completo no disponible en este idioma / Full article is not available in this language

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