Dietary behavior of pregnant women in the province of El Jadida and impact of low birth weight on the anthropometric status of newborns. Case-control study.

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is a major health problem responsible for neonatal mortality and morbidity such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

Objective: This case-control study aims to compare data on the intake of energy, macro and micronutrient in two groups of pregnant women, who gave birth to low birth weight (LBW) babies named cases and those who gave birth to babies of normal weight (NW) called controls.

Material and methods: The collection of information was done using an established questionnaire for 400 pregnant women, allowing the collection of data on socio-demographic and obstetrical factors. Nutritional intake was obtained by recording food consumption using the 24-hour recall method. Anthropometric measurements of parturient and fundal height (FH) were measured before delivery.

Results: The mean FH of the cases was 25.69±0.13 and that of the controls was 31.83±0.06. The gestational age of the cases was on average 31.65±0.21 week of amenorrhea (WA) against 38.04±0.08 WA for the controls. 37% of LBW newborns had an Apgar score < 7 (p< 0.001) and 71% were hospitalized in neonatal intensive care (p<0.001). Micronutrient deficiency was raised and concerned calcium 34.02% vs 60.65%, folates 48.32% vs 68.01% and iron 50.85% vs 66% in cases and controls respectively. Newborns from NW had a weight of 3395.5±15.99 against 1957.25±30.72 for those from LBW.

Conclusion: This study shows that the nutritional intake did not cover all the nutrient needs of the pregnant women studied and that newborns with LBW are associated with an altered anthropometric status. Improving the living conditions of mothers, good monitoring of pregnancy, and good nutritional education can significantly improve the nutritional status with the same food intake and should be integrated into the nutritional intervention strategies.