Abstract

Background: Gestational Diabetes mellitus (GDM) has emerged as an important public health problem affecting mothers and their offspring in later life. The role of diet is highly important as adequate and good nutrition is needed to the mother and foetus. Aims &
Objective: It is imperative to study the nutritional adequacy of these patients and the objective of the study is to identify women with gestational glycaemia and assess their nutritional adequacy in gestation. Material and Methods: Pregnant women (n=504) reporting to a Diabetes Referral centre at Chennai were selected by purposive sampling and screened for glucose intolerance at the first visit. The socio-demographic details, anthropometry and bio-chemical assessment was done. About 240 women in the 25-30 age groups, primi and in the first trimester were selected to study the nutritional adequacy in the antenatal period using a food frequency questionnaire and 24-hour recall method. The mean nutrient intake was calculated and compared with the RDA of pregnant women (ICMR).
Results: The findings revealed that the diet of the GDM women was not balanced in terms of quantity of nutrients and exhibited poor quality. The nutrient intake did not meet the RDA requirements; the consumption of CHO was excess and inconsistent in meals. Conclusion: The glaring fact was the consumption of energy-dense diet, high in saturated fat, low in unrefined CHO, dietary fibre and deficit iron intake contributed to nutritional inadequacy in the GDM women.