Excerpt
Nutrition plays an important role in maternal and child health. Poor maternal nutrition status has been associated with poor maternal and fetal outcomes. Apart from poor maternal nutrition, biological, socioeconomic, teenage pregnancy, short interpregnancy interval and demographic factors in different populations also influence poor birth outcomes [
1]. Multiple nutrient deficiencies are generally observed in low socioeconomic status [
2]; however, a review of the literature indicates that a majority of studies are based on single nutrient deficiency with birth outcomes; therefore, it is necessary to study in depth, the multiple nutrient deficiencies and birth outcomes. Poor maternal outcomes include increased risk of maternal mortality, anemia, pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), third trimester bleeding, premature rupture of membranes, prolonged labor, postpartum hemorrhage, and puerperal endometritis. The adverse major fetal birth outcomes are low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) which are leading causes of neonatal deaths in the absence of congenital malformations [
3]. They are also associated with short- and long-term health problems (e.g., neurologic disorders, learning disability, childhood psychiatric disorders, mental retardation, etc.) and chronic diseases in adult life [
4]. LBW can occur because of preterm delivery or IUGR or both and causes 40–80 % neonatal deaths especially in developing countries [
3]. The cost of hospitalization and treatment of LBW and preterm infants are extremely high immediately after birth as well as 4–10 times higher in first 10 years of life. Matthew et al. [
5] and many researchers have reported that maternal nutrition did not play much role on birth weight in industrialized countries. This may be due to the mean daily intake from food of energy and fiber, and seven out of ten micronutrients were at or above the dietary reference values which were recorded as early as 9–20 weeks of gestation. In the United States, Programs for Nutritional Intervention in preconceptional and during first trimester with low socioeconomic status have shown lower incidence of LBW [
6]. …
