OBJECTIVE

In order to provide guidance for prenatal diet effectively, an adjusted evaluation system of dietary balance index (DBI) was developed for rapid assessment of the dietary intake of pregnant women in Hefei area.

METHODS

A total of 342 representative pregnant women during the second or third trimester were selected from a hospital in Hefei. Food intakes were collected by a food frequency questionnaire, and the dietary quality was evaluated by an adjusted DBI-07 scoring and evaluation system.

RESULTS

From the distribution of DBI scores, the intake of beans, dairy products and food rich in iron of most pregnant women were far below the RNI, the intake of vegetables and fruits of pregnant women approaching and reaching RNI accounted for 72.2%, the intake of grain and animal food was insufficient or excessive, and the degree of inadequacy was more than excess. The taste of most pregnant women was light and moderate. Most of pregnant women took vegetable oil, no alcohol, but the diversity of their diet was not good enough. The quality of diet was also related to educational level.

CONCLUSION

The dietary quality of pregnant woman could be reflected by using DBI evaluation system, by which the existing problems could be discovered in time.