Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper

Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper

Introduction

Pregnancy is a time of tremendous physiological and metabolic change, and a healthy mother’s diet plays a crucial role in fostering healthy development in her unborn child (Reyes-López et al., 2021). It is widely recognized that optimum nutrition and fetal metabolic programming are achieved with a balanced diet and sufficient nutrient supplementation. This is correlated with a lower risk of obesity and diabetes mellitus in later life. Infants born underweight or short for gestational age (SGA) have been shown to have insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and other metabolic abnormalities by the time they are one year old (Reyes-López et al., 2021)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper. Similarly, low birth weight has been linked to a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease and insulin-independent diabetes later in life, which are also connected with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). There has been a lot of research on how a mother’s food might affect her newborn’s health.

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The latest national statistics show that less than half of Mexicans eat eggs and vegetables regularly. On the other hand, about 86% of people take sugary drinks on a daily basis, and 33% of people regularly indulge in Sweets, unhealthy snacks, desserts, and ultra-processed meals (Santiago et al., 2013). However, there is a dearth of studies documenting the healthfulness of Hispanic or Mexican women’s diets during pregnancy (Santiago et al., 2013)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper. In addition, Mexican-born women make up a significant component of California’s obstetric patient population and have a greater rate of unfavorable obstetric outcomes, such as maternal postpartum hemorrhage and postnatal depression, than white women. This essay describes Mexican women and their dietary habits. However, I will begin by highlighting the importance of a healthy nutritional intake during pregnancy, followed by dietary behaviors of this population in subsequent subheadings, vitamin D deficiency, fat, Sodium and Caloric Intake, and tap water. I will also compare the dietary habits of Mexican-born women vs. US-born women of Mexican descent.

Importance of a Healthy Dietary Intake During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, there are specific dietary needs that should be met. Both the population’s dietary customs and its nutritional state have a role in the discrepancies. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) document on prenatal standards includes 39 suggestions covering five categories of interventions (Kominiarek & Rajan, 2016). Excessive weight gain during pregnancy may be avoided by adhering to a balanced diet and regular exercise. Preventing low birth weight, small for gestational age, and stillbirth requires a healthy diet with enough protein and calorie consumption, especially in the malnourished population. Folate and iron supplements may be used on a daily or as-needed basis. It is recommended that vitamin A supplements be given only in regions where a lack of nutrients poses a severe threat to public health. Only those who get very little calcium from their diets should take calcium supplements. Routine supplementation with vitamin D, vitamin B6, zinc, or multivitamins is not recommended (Kominiarek & Rajan, 2016)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper.

Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D insufficiency in mothers is the least common nutritional deficit worldwide and a serious public health issue. Worldwide research found that 42% and 72% of pregnant women in the Americas, 18% to 90% of pregnant women in Europe, and 46% of pregnant women in the Eastern Mediterranean were vitamin D deficient (Perichart-Perera et al., 2020). According to research, an estimated 37% of Mexican women of childbearing age were vitamin D deficient, with another 50% being insufficient. A majority of pregnant Mexican mothers (61%) and their newborn infants (98%) were found to have vitamin D insufficiency in recent research (Perichart-Perera et al., 2020).

Low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) have been linked to an increased risk of issues such as GDM, preeclampsia, premature delivery, and having a baby who is tiny for their gestational age in women who are pregnant (Maldonado et al., 2022). Season, sun exposure, nutritional consumption, and, in certain communities, obesity may all have a role in determining a mother’s vitamin D status. Despite evidence from several studies linking maternal vitamin D insufficiency to an increased risk of bad perinatal outcomes, there is still debate about whether or not regular supplementation is warranted and, if so, how much. Except in cases of verified inadequacy, the World Health Organization (WHO) advises against giving pregnant women vitamin D supplements outside the recommended daily dosage (Perichart-Perera et al., 2020). However, nutritional advice varies widely from region to region. The World Health Organization recommends the daily consumption of 200 IU of vitamin D during pregnancy, whereas the Institute of Medicine recommends a daily intake of 600 IU (Perichart-Perera et al., 2020)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper.

Fat, Sodium, Caloric Intake, and Tap water

Regular ingestion of sugary sweets during pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a disease of glucose intolerance that has been linked to several pregnancy complications, including macrosomia, LGA children, and higher rates of cesarean section (Reyes-López et al., 2021). Among women, the risk of developing GDM is 2.5 times higher for Hispanics than for non-Hispanic whites (Maldonado et al., 2022)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper. Problems with gestational glucose regulation have been connected to neural tube abnormalities. Maternal gestational diabetes has been linked to LGA children born to pregnant teens who consume excessive sugar. On the other hand, high-sodium prenatal diets have been linked to lower birth weights and a heightened sensitivity to stress in later life. Higher fat, salt, and calorie consumption, especially from dairy foods, are a potential health concern for the Hispanic population.

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As a consequence of assimilation into non-Hispanic cultures, Hispanics may consume less protein, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and folic acid in their diets. It is also possible that Hispanic people, as a whole, consume more dairy fat than the average person. Preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) were more common among women of Hispanic or Latino descent who had lower incomes and those who had not developed gestational diabetes. Furthermore, a diet rich in vegetables, oils, and fruit during this time was linked to a reduced risk of preeclampsia (Santiago et al., 2013)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper. Many prenatal contaminants, like trihalomethanes and some disinfection by-products, have been detected in tap water. Some pollutants, such as arsenic, DBA, and radium 226, have been linked to birth malformations in the central nervous system, the mouth, including cleft palate, the neural tube, and the fetus, including premature delivery and increased risk of stillbirth. Instead, expectant mothers should be urged to switch to bottled or filtered water.

Mexican-born women vs. US-born women of Mexican descent

However, few studies have recorded nutrient and food category serving consumption trends among pregnant Latinas, despite the significant linkages between dietary intake and birth outcomes and the variations in birth outcomes amongst Latina subgroups (Trainor et al., 2020). Acculturation impacts the eating habits of pregnant women of Mexican heritage (Trainor et al., 2020). Women born in Mexico had a higher daily intake of fiber, vitamins A, C, and E, folate, Ca, and Zn, and fruit, grains, and dairy products than Mexican-American women born in the United States. Unfortunately, the longer Mexican women spend in the United States, the less likely they are to ingest the recommended daily allowances of several nutrients. For instance, Due to contact with the outside world, indigenous people in the Mexican state of Guerrero abandoned many of their ancient customs. Theoretically, at times of change like these, individuals may seek both Western and alternative medical treatment options (Sarmiento et al., 2020)Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper. As a result, individuals are often presented with difficult healthcare decisions since the shift from alternative to mainstream medicine is incomplete in many areas. To a greater extent than their Mexican counterparts, Mexican women raised in the United States are more prone to consume a diet of inferior quality because they get less social support as children.

References

Kominiarek, M. A., & Rajan, P. (2016). Nutrition recommendations in pregnancy and lactation. Medical Clinics, 100(6), 1199-1215. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.mcna.2016.06.004

Maldonado, L. E., Toledo-Corral, C. M., Dunton, G., Farzan, S., Breton, C. V., & Bastain, T. M. (2022). Maternal Dietary Patterns During Late Pregnancy Are Linked To Hypertensive Disorders Of Pregnancy Among A Low-income Predominantly Hispanic/latina Pregnancy Cohort In Los Angeles. Circulation, 145(Suppl_1), A021-A021. https://doi.org/10.1161/circ.145.suppl_1.021

Perichart-Perera, O., González-Leyva, C. P., González-Ludlow, I., Tolentino-Dolores, M., Solis-Paredes, M., Reyes-Muñoz, E., … & Estrada-Gutierrez, G. (2020). Vitamin D Deficiency in Mexican Pregnant Women: Is Supplementation with≤ 400 IU/day Enough?. Nutrients, 12(9), 2517. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092517 Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper

Reyes-López, M. A., González-Leyva, C. P., Rodríguez-Cano, A. M., Rodríguez-Hernández, C., Colin-Ramírez, E., Estrada-Gutierrez, G., … & Perichart-Perera, O. (2021). Diet Quality Is Associated with a High Newborn Size and Reduction in the Risk of Low Birth Weight and Small for Gestational Age in a Group of Mexican Pregnant Women: An Observational Study. Nutrients, 13(6), 1853. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13061853

Santiago, S. E., Park, G. H., & Huffman, K. J. (2013). Consumption habits of pregnant women and implications for developmental biology: a survey of predominantly Hispanic women in California. Nutrition journal, 12(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-12-91

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Sarmiento, I., Paredes-Solís, S., Loutfi, D., Dion, A., Cockcroft, A., & Andersson, N. (2020). Fuzzy cognitive mapping and soft models of indigenous knowledge on maternal health in Guerrero, Mexico. BMC medical research methodology, 20(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-020-00998-w

Trainor, L., Frickberg-Middleton, E., McLemore, M., & Franck, L. (2020). Mexican-born women’s experiences of perinatal care in the United States. Journal of patient experience, 7(6), 941-945. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373520966818 Women and Dietary Habits During Pregnancy Research Paper