Dietary Practice and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Nono Woreda west shoa, Oromia, Ethiopia

BackgroundPregnancy is a unique and critical stage of life during which extensive anatomical, physiological, biochemical and several other related changes take place. The everyday vitality prerequisites for health women of typical weight who have a modestly dynamic way of life, increment during pregnancy and depend on the trimester of the baby. Maternal undernutrition is a serious developmental challenge contributing a large share to the global disease burden. It is a major reason for the increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, poor infant survival, and elevated risks of chronic diseases at later stages of life. Ethiopia has an unacceptably high burden of malnutrition and its consequences, and yet little is known about the determinants and responses to undernutrition during pregnancy ObjectivesTo assess the dietary practice and associated factors among pregnant women in Nono Woreda, West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia. MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study design with both quantitative and qualitative data collection was conducted. Simple random sampling was used to select 378 pregnant women. The data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaire of Afan Oromo version. Data were entered using Epi info version 7 and analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for Windows version 21. Multiple logistic regressions were run to assess factors that were associated with the dependent variable at P<0.05 and to control the confounders. ResultFinally, the result of the study has shown that 31% of the study participants had good dietary practices while the rest 69% of pregnant women had poor dietary practices. Concerning dietary knowledge about a balanced diet, 63.5% of the study participants had good dietary knowledge while 36.5% had poor dietary knowledge about a balanced diet. Marital status, breastfeeding, health-seeking behavior, food avoiding, and dietary knowledge were shown to have a significant association (P < 0.05) with dietary practices of pregnant women. The quantitative study revealed that marital status (AOR =95%CI, 7.983(1.387, 45.947, P<0.02). ConclusionA dietary practice of pregnant women in the study area was poor. Marital statuses, breastfeeding, health-seeking behavior, food avoiding and dietary knowledge of balance diet were independent predictors of women dietary practices. Therefore, Health professional, Zonal health office, regional Bureau and health planners would be better to increasing awareness to have good dietary practices those women married and supported by household head.