Nutrient intake and iron status of urban poor and rural poor without access to rice fields are affected by the emerging economic crisis: the case of pregnant Indonesian women.

OBJECTIVE

We evaluated the adequacy of nutrient intake in comparison with the Indonesian Estimated Average Requirement (EARs) among pregnant Indonesian women and explain the short-term effect of economic crisis on nutrient intake and iron status.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Purworejo District, Central Java, located 60 km west of Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia.

SUBJECTS

During the period from 1996 to 1998, up to six 24 h recalls were performed during the second trimester of pregnancy among 450 women. Nutrient intake and iron status was evaluated in relation to date of data collection relative to the economic crisis that emerged in August 1997. A computer program (Inafood) was developed to calculate nutrient intake.

RESULTS

: Forty percent of the pregnant women were at risk of inadequate intake of energy and protein, and 70% were at risk of inadequate intake of vitamin A, calcium and iron even before the crisis. Our results also demonstrate an effect of short-term economic crisis on nutrient intake and iron status. When the crisis emerged, urban poor experienced a decrease in intake of most nutrients. During the crisis, rich women experienced a significant decrease in fat (P<0.05). Negative changes in fat density during crisis were experienced by the rich and the rural, poor, and access to rice field subgroups (P<0.01). A significant increase in carbohydrate densities was seen for the rich and rural, poor, and access to rice fields groups (P<0.05). Urban poor experienced decreased serum ferritin concentration (P<0.05), whereas rich women experienced a significant increase (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Urban poor and rural poor landless women were most directly affected by the emerging economic crisis.