Dietary Energy Intakes of Sudanese Pregnant Women

Purpose: To determine dietary energy intake of pregnant Sudanese women in their third trimester, with focus on macronutrients fat, , carbohydrates, and protein and their contribution to dietary energy. Methods and Materials: Dietary intake of pregnant women (n=81) in their third trimester (15 to 41years) attending Omdurman Maternity Hospital, Khartoum State was assessed by 3-days 24-hour dietary recall sheet. Diets consumed were converted to nutrients using Nutri-survey software package. Database was modified from other food composition tables. RDA values were based on FAO/WHO/UNU reference values. Results: Energy and carbohydrates intakes were significantly lower than the RDA (Pless than0.000). Adequacy of intake was 40 %, 69.2 %, 32.1 %, 66.7 % for energy, protein, and fat, respectively. Contribution to total energy was 20 % by protein, 55 % by carbohydrate and 25 % by fat. Conclusion: Energy and carbohydrates intake were inadequate by pregnant Sudanese mothers in their third trimester. This might probably affect birth weight. Therefore intake of energy from carbohydrates should be increased.