Socio-Demographic Variables and Practices of Pregnant Women in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District

This study investigated socio-demographic variables and nutritional practices of pregnant women in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District. In order to achieve this purpose, five objectives, five research questions and five null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The study population comprised all 7,206 pregnant women from all the 261 primary health care centers in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District who registered for antenatal clinic in the health care facilities. A sample size of 400 pregnant women was used for this study. This study employed simple random sampling technique for the selection of the sample size. The instruments used for data collection was Socio-Demographic Variables and Nutritional Practices Questionnaire (SDVNPQ). The instrument was validated by three experts; two lecturers from the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education as well as one lecturer from Department of Psychological Foundations of Education. Cronbach’s Alpha Statistics was used to obtained reliability coefficient of 0.85. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The study revealed that there is a significant influence of socio-demographic variables (level of education, age, economic status, family size and religion) on nutritional practices among pregnant women in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District. Based on these findings, the researcher recommends among others that the Ministry of Health should enact policies and improve basic education for all womenfolk of childbearing age both at the pre (before pregnancy), during and post pregnancy (after birth), on the need for wellness practices expected of expectant womenfolk and not just focusing on the sensitizations and counseling services rendered only during Antenatal and/or postnatal care which is centered towards the pregnant women only.

Family Size, Nutritional Practices, Pregnant Women

1. Agyei, E. A., Afrifa, S. K., Munkaila, A., Gaa, P. K., Kuugbee, E. D. and Mogre, V. (2021). Income Level but Not Nutrition Knowledge Is Associated with Dietary Diversity of Rural Pregnant Women from Northern Ghana. Journal of nutrition and metabolism, 5581445. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ayo, O.B. (2013). Adequate nutrition: Fulfilling our rights to a happy and healthy life. Business Times, 24-26pp. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Berti, C., Cetin, I. and Agostoni, C. (2016). Pregnancy and infants’ outcome: nutritional and metabolic implications. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr; 56:82-91. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Brien, K. M. (2020). Nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practices among pregnant and lactating women living with HIV in the Manzini Region of Swaziland. J Health Popul Nutr, 32:261-9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Castro, M., de Souza, R. A., Vilela, A. A. F. and Kac, G. (2014). Association between socio-demographic factors and dietary patterns during pregnancy. Rev. Nutr., Campinas, 27(2):173-181. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Cetin, I. and Laoreti, A. (2015). From the womb to the adult. In: Vassilios F, Michele M, Antonio DV, et al., eds. The importance of maternal nutrition for health. Proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Neonatology and Satellite Meetings. Oct 26-31,Cagliari (Italy). J Pediatr Neonat Individual Med; 4:e040220. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Ewelina, W., Agnieszka J., El˙zbieta T., Paweł K., Mariusz, G. J. D., . Wojciech, H., Gemma C. and Kinga, P. N, (2019). Socio-demographic, lifestyle, environmental and pregnancy-related determinants of dietary patterns during pregnancy. International Journal of Environmental Researchand Public Health, 1-15. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Fasola, M., Tenaw, Z. and Tachbele, E. (2018). Nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices among pregnant women who attend antenatal care at public hospitals of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Int J Nurs Midwifery, 10 (7): 81–89. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Flick, A. A., Brookfield, K. F., de la Torre, L., Tudela, C. M., Duthely, L., and Gonzalez-Quintero, V. H. (2020). Excessive weight gain among obese women and pregnancy outcomes. American Journal of Perinatology, 2, 333–338. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Girma-Tilahun, A., Molla-Kebede, A., and Ejigu, A. G. (2021). Dietary Practice and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women at Public Health Institution in Mizan-Aman Town, Southwest Ethiopia. Nutrition and metabolic insights, 14, 11786388211057796. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Gokhale, D., Rao, S. (2022). Socio-economic and socio-demographic determinants of diet diversity among rural pregnant women from Pune, India. BMC Nutr 8, 54 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Jones N.R.V., Conklin A.I., Suhrcke M., Monsivais P. (2014). The Growing Price Gap between More and Less Healthy Foods: Analysis of a Novel Longitudinal UK Dataset. PLoS ONE. ;9:e109343. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Kever, R. T., Martins, S. D., Lola, N., Dathini, H., Habu, H., Fatima, A.A. and Sambo, B. D. (2015). Knowledge and attitude of pregnant Women towards dietary practices in Yerwa Clinic, Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State. Journal of Research in Nursing and Midwifery (JRNM), 4(1), 12-19. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Khan, Y. and Bhutta, Z. A. (2020). Nutritional deficiencies in the developing world: current status and opportunities for intervention. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 57, 1409–1441. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Kuma, M. N., Tamiru, D. and Belachew, T. (2021). Level and predictors of dietary diversity among pregnant women in rural South-West Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study. BMJ open, 11(10), e055125. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Leung, C. W., Epel, E. S., Ritchie, L. D., Crawford, P. B. and Laraia, B. A. (2014). Food Insecurity Is Inversely Associated with Diet Quality of Lower-Income Adults. J. Acad. Nutr. Diet.,114:1943–1953 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Levy, O., Digman, S. and Shirrefs, F. (2014). Essentials of life and health (4th Ed.) New York: Random House. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Maduka R. N. and Enaruna N. O. (2021). Acceptance of repeat cesarean section and its determinants among a Nigerian pregnant women population. Sahel Med. J, 24:104-110. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Moradi, R. U., Legg, C., Puri, A. and Thomas, N. (2019). Dietary restraint and self-reported meal sizes: diary studies with differentially informed consent. Appetite, 34(3): 235–243 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Motlagh, R. Fekadu, H. and Beyene, G. D. (2020). Assessment of knowledge of pregnant mothers on maternal nutrition and associated factors in Guto Gida Woreda, East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia. J Nutr Food Sci., 3(6): 235- 245. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Nana, A. and Zema, T. (2018). Dietary practices and associated factors during pregnancy in northwestern Ethiopia. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth;18:183. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Nash, D. M., Gilliland, J. A., Evers, S. E., Wilk, P., Campbell, M. K. (2022). Determinants of diet quality in pregnancy: Sociodemographic; pregnancy-specific; and food environment influences. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav., 45:627–634. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Ochogu, J. O. (2020). Nutritional knowledge and practice of the pregnant women in Onitsha North and South Local Government Areas of Anambra State. Published MSc. Thesis of Nnamdi Azikwe University, Akwa, Anambra State, 173p. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Okafor, J. O. (2020). Principles of healthful living (2nd Ed.) Onitsha: Erudite publishers. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Okonkwo , G. O. (2015). Sociology of educational for Nigeria. Owerri, Total Publisher Ltd. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Ononuja, E. E. (2015). Sociology of education. Nigeria: London Nigeria Ltd [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Ramakrishnan, U. (2018). Multiple micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy does not lead to greater infant birth size than does iron only supplementation: A randomized controlled trial in a semi-rural community in Mexico. American Journal of clinical Nutrition, 77: 720. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Samuel G. K and Balami P. A. (2021). Socio-demographic predictors to health promotion among pregnant women in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State Nigeria. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 5(2), 13-21. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Senbanjo, I. O., Olayiwola, I. O., Afolabi, W. A. and Senbanjo, O. C. (2013). Maternal and child under-nutrition in rural and urban communities of Lagos state, Nigeria: the relationship and risk factors. BMC Res Notes;6:286. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Sholeye, O. O., Catherine, A. B. and Olubukunola, A. J.(2014). Dietary habit of pregnant women in Ogun-East Senatorial Zone, Ogun state, Nigeria: A comparative study. International Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, 6(4), 42-49. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Ugwu, E. A. (2016). Nutritional practices and taboos among pregnant women attending antenatal care at general hospital in Kano, Northwest Nigeria. Annals of Medical and Health Science Research, 6(2), 109-14. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Ugwu, E. A. (2016). Nutritional practices and taboos among pregnant women attending antenatal care at general hospital in Kano, Northwest Nigeria. Annals of Medical and Health Science Research, 6(2), 109-14. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) (2019) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Wen, L. M., Flood, V. M., Simpson, J. M., Rissel, C., and Baur, L. A. (2020). Dietary behaviours during pregnancy: findings from first-time mothers in southwest Sydney, Australia. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7, 13. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Wesołowska, E., Jankowska, A., Trafalska, E., Kałużny, P., Grzesiak, M., Dominowska, J., Hanke, W., Calamandrei, G., & Polańska, K. (2019). Sociodemographic, Lifestyle, Environmental and Pregnancy-Related Determinants of Dietary Patterns during Pregnancy. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(5), 754. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. World Health Organistion (2016). WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience. WHO [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Zepro, N. B. (2015). Food taboos and misconceptions among pregnant women of Shashemene District, Ethiopia, Sci. J. Public Heal. 3(3), 410–416. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. Zewdie, H. E. (2022). Nutritional Practice and its Determinant’s among Pregnant Women in Public Health Facilities of Malga District, Southern Ethiopia. J Women's Health Care 11(6):586 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Factors Affecting Complementary Feeding Practices of Children 6-23 Months in Developing Countries. A Review
• Low-Cost Multi-Parameter Vital Sign Monitoring Using Arduino and IoT Alerts
• Effects of Inclusive Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions on Access Among Vulnerable Households Receiving Cash Transfers in Makueni County, Kenya
• Breakfast Consumption Patterns and Dietary Diversity among Undergraduate Female College Students in Mumbai, Maharashtra