Diet quality during pregnancy is related to the maternal nutritional status and pregnancy outcomes. Lifestyle and eating habits on workday and workfree day may differ and need to be considered separately. This study aims to investigate and compare the dietary intake and quality in Malaysian pregnant women on workday and workfree day.
This was a prospective cohort study conducted among pregnant women in their second and third trimesters. Workday and workfree day meal consumption was assessed using a two-days food recall. Each serving size and Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score were calculated using the dietary data. Anthropometric data was taken from clinic records.
This study included 391 pregnant women with mean age of 29.38 ± 4.18 years. Most of the women were Malay (71.4%), had tertiary education (67.6%), and from middle monthly household income category (53.4%). There were no significant differences in the diet quality (total HEI) between workday (37.34 ± 12.89) and workfree day (36.95 ± 12.08). However, total mean energy intake was higher, dietary fiber was lower and calcium intake was lower on workfree days. Furthermore, more pregnant women skipped breakfast on workfree days than workdays (χ2 = 4.50, p < 0.05).
This study revealed that pregnant women had low diet quality with inconsistency in dietary intake during workday and workfree day. Therefore, future studies are warranted to observe factors to difference and education to highlight the low diet quality issue.
