Appiah Prince Kubi, Naa Korklu Anang Rhoda, Bonchel Duut Abdulai, Fenu Georgina Agartha, Wadga-Mieza Yankey Francis
Department of Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana.
Department of Medical Law and Ethics, Asian Institute for Bioethics and Health Law, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
J Nutr Metab. 2021 Feb 13;2021:8835704. doi: 10.1155/2021/8835704. eCollection 2021.
Proper nutrition during pregnancy is important for the wellbeing of the mother and foetus and supports health during pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding. However, there are little data on nutritional knowledge and dietary intake among adolescents who are pregnant in Ghana. Hence, the study assessed the nutritional knowledge and eating habits of this vulnerable group in the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipality, Ghana.
The study was cross-sectional and employed a multistage sampling technique to select 423 participants. The study was conducted between October and November 2019. A statistical software was used to analyse data and employed Pearson's chi-square and logistics regression to assess associations between the outcome and predictor variables. A value <0.05 at a 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant.
Less than half (44.9%) of the pregnant adolescents have high nutritional knowledge. About 19.4% of them have good eating habits, while 23.9%, 18.2%, and 6.4% of them do not take breakfast, lunch, and supper, respectively. However, 15.6%, 13.9%, and 9.2% do take snacks after breakfast, lunch, and supper, respectively. About 55.9%, 59.8%, and 23.0% do not take their breakfast, lunch, and supper on time, respectively. Additionally, only 3.8% of them do take fruits and vegetables daily, while 9.7%, 23.2%, 30.0%, and 26.5% of them do take animal products, energy drinks, carbonated drinks, and legumes/nuts/seeds daily, respectively. The study showed that educational level (=0.014), occupation (=0.016), ethnicity (=0.017), and number of pregnancies (=0.021) were associated with good eating habits.
Eating habit of adolescent pregnant women was not encouraging. Therefore, the municipal health authority with the concerned stakeholders should intensify efforts, including nutritional education to improve good eating habits, such as taking snacks in between meals, eating on time, and balance diet among pregnant adolescents, and to reduce adolescent pregnancy in the municipality.
孕期适当的营养对母亲和胎儿的健康很重要，并有助于孕期、分娩及母乳喂养期间的健康。然而，关于加纳怀孕青少年的营养知识和饮食摄入的数据很少。因此，本研究评估了加纳莱佐库库-克罗沃尔市这一弱势群体的营养知识和饮食习惯。
本研究为横断面研究，采用多阶段抽样技术选取了423名参与者。研究于2019年10月至11月进行。使用统计软件分析数据，并采用Pearson卡方检验和逻辑回归来评估结果变量与预测变量之间的关联。95%置信区间下p值<0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
不到一半（44.9%）的怀孕青少年具有较高的营养知识。其中约19.4%有良好的饮食习惯，而分别有23.9%、18.2%和6.4%的人不吃早餐、午餐和晚餐。然而，分别有15.6%、13.9%和9.2%的人在早餐、午餐和晚餐后吃零食。分别有55.9%、59.8%和23.0%的人不按时吃早餐、午餐和晚餐。此外，只有3.8%的人每天吃水果和蔬菜，而分别有9.7%、23.2%、30.0%和26.5%的人每天食用动物产品、能量饮料、碳酸饮料和豆类/坚果/种子。研究表明，教育程度（p = 0.014）、职业（p = 0.016）、种族（p = 0.017）和怀孕次数（p = 0.021）与良好的饮食习惯有关。
青少年孕妇的饮食习惯不容乐观。因此，市卫生当局及相关利益攸关方应加大力度，包括开展营养教育，以改善良好的饮食习惯，如在两餐之间吃零食、按时吃饭以及孕妇青少年的饮食均衡，并减少该市的青少年怀孕情况。
