Micronutrients Dietary Intakes of Pregnant Sudanese Women

Nutritional imbalance could cause detrimental effects to the pregnant woman by influencing pregnancy outcome and impair breast milk composition. Fetal growth and development are strongly linked with maternal supply of essential nutrients but how the nutritional status of the mother influences her health, and that of the fetus is still not clear. Purpose This study was conducted to determine micronutrient intake of pregnant Sudanese women in their third trimester. Focus was on micronutrients vitamins A, B1, B2, B6 folate, vitamin C, and minerals, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc. Methods Dietary intake of pregnant women (n=81) in their third trimester attending Omdurman Maternity Hospital, Khartoum State assessed by 3-days 24-hour dietary recall sheet. Diets consumed converted to nutrients using Nutri-survey software package. Database modified from other food composition tables. RDA values based on FAO/WHO/UNU reference values. Results Most of the pregnant mothers were from middle economic class and educated. Eighty-eight percent (88 %) of the babies were normal whereas 12 % had LBW. Results of the mean intakes of 13 nutrients (68.4 %) for all subjects were below RDA, The minimum intake recorded for vitamin A, which is