Pregnant women not getting enough nutrients, warns study

Pregnant women are consuming too much saturated fat, not enough vitamin D, and only one-in-three are taking the required amount of folic acid, a new study has found.

The research, involving 402 mothers-to-be attending the Coombe hospital, Dublin found:

• More than 90% of women exceeded the recommended daily allowance for saturated fat, increasing the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus for the woman and the risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes mellitus in the baby.
• 99% did not meet estimated average requirements for vitamin D which the study authors’ described as “of major concern”.

Low vitamin D status has been associated with impaired glucose tolerance, low birth weight, neuro- cognitive deficits and poor foetal skeletal development. The researchers said this was “potentially a greater problem in Ireland” due to low sunshine levels, especially during winter.

• Over one in five women failed to meet the estimated average requirement for iron. Low iron status in pregnancy has been linked to low birth weight and impaired cognitive development
• Only one in three women achieved the recommended dietary folate intake. Dietary deficiencies of folate are associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects.

“While the incidence of neural tube defects in Europe has stayed the same, in Ireland the incidence of neural tube defects has increased,” researchers said.

The study, conducted by the School of Biological Sciences at Dublin Institute of Technology and UCD’s Centre for Human Reproduction at the Coombe, recruited women attending ante-natal care between February and August 2013 who were in the first 18 weeks of pregnancy.

‘Maternal Nutrient Intakes from Food and Drinks Consumed in Early Pregnancy in Ireland’, published in the Journal of Public Health, will “help guide professional dietary advice to women attending for future obstetric care”.