Predictive Factors for Nutritional Behavior among Pregnant Women Attending Ante Natal Care Clinic in 6th of October City

Abstract

Good maternal nutrition during pregnancy is important to ensure health for the mother and the foetus. This presupposes a diet with sufficient energy, with a variety of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, and the mother’s avoidance of toxins and contaminants. Women’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning nutritional issues related to pregnancy vary depending on level of education, age, and social class. In Egypt most of the women take their knowledge from neighbours and friends, this makes an environment of misconceptions and myths. For this reason WHO has issued a new series of recommendations to improve the quality of antenatal care in order to reduce risk of still births and pregnancy complications and give women a positive pregnancy experience, one of its core contents is the nutrient needs in pregnancy with special enforcement on the application of these recommendations in the developing countries and among poor communities