American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 13, 55-62, Copyright © 1963 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Studies of Nutrition in Pregnancy

I. Some Considerations in Collecting Dietary Information

¹ From the C.S.I.R.O. Division of Mathematical Statistics, % University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

The food intake of two groups of pregnant women has been examined. Diet sheets were obtained from a sample of sixty-five women in each of the second and third trimesters, and also in the puerperium between their discharge from the hospital and their postnatal clinic visit six weeks after the birth of the baby. Diet sheets were also obtained from a further sample of fifty women in the third trimester. Mean values of total calories, fat, protein and carbohydrate intake have been recorded.

Analysis of both four-day and seven-day diet sheets showed that a four-day diet sheet retained about 90 per cent of the information of a seven-day diet sheet for each major nutrient and the bias in the four-day diet sheet (one week-end day and three weekdays) was negligible in groups of 100 women. The four-day diet sheet was, therefore, adopted for this survey.

Analysis of the data obtained for the various nutrients in a sample of sixty-five women showed significant changes in eating habits during the course of pregnancy and lactation. Protein intake increased in the third trimester and still more during lactation. Fat intake decreased in the third trimester.