Association between dietary diversity and complications during pregnancy in a South-West District of Bangladesh

Introduction: Poor dietary diversity is one of the key factors that increases the rate of complications during pregnancy. Pregnancy complications significantly increase the risk of maternal mortality. The aim of this study was to explore the associated factors between dietary diversity and complications during pregnancy. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 450 randomly selected pregnant women. Individual dietary diversity score (IDDS) was used to assess dietary diversity based on Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). IDDS was derived from 24-hour recalls from nine food groups. Results: Most of the pregnant women (48.9%) included in this study were in their second trimester; 19.3% and 31.8% were in first trimester and third trimester, respectively. About 83.8% of respondents included in this study experienced pregnancy complications. According to IDDS, most participants (77.1%) consumed a medium-diversified diet. Only 4.4% and 18.4% of pregnant women had low and highly diversified dietary intakes, respectively. Mean IDDS was 5.62±0.93, which indicated medium diversity of dietary intake. Dietary diversity had a statistically significant correlation with age (p=0.003), monthly income (p=0.003), education level (p=0.001), and respondent’s employment (p=0.004). The study exposed that pregnancy complications had a negative correlation with food diversity (r=-0.223), marriage age (r=-0.066), and education level (r=-0.163). Conclusion: The study concluded that pregnancy complications can be alleviated by improving dietary diversity practices during pregnancy.