IMPACT OF NUTRITION DURING PREGNANCY UPON HEALTH OF PREGNANT WOMEN

Pregnancy is a period of considerable physiological and nutritional stress, during which the maternal requirements of almost all the nutrients are greatly increased. Pregnant women are considered as a vulnerable group because of increased physiological demands. Diet during pregnancy is one of the most important factors in achieving a successful outcome of pregnancy in terms of healthy baby and maintenance of her own health, as the overall development of child is determined to a great extent by the type of nourishment it receives right from the conception. By keeping in mind about the importance of nutritional diet the study was conducted with following objectives i.e. to study the knowledge about diet amongst pregnant women as well as diet taken by pregnant women (24 hour dietary recall) health problems among pregnant women as well as comparison between RDA and actual intake of nutrients. Results showed that near about 50% respondents has no idea about which nutrient rich diet should be taken during pregnancy. On the basis of 24 hour dietary recall it was found that more than 60%respondents do not gave importance to the inclusion of pulses, cereal, green leafy vegetables, fruits and milk in their diet. Besides this it was also found that 63.33 %respondents were having low hemoglobin level. There were 63.33% women having low blood pressure and 16.66% were having high blood pressure. In case of blood sugar level it was found that 60% were having low sugar level and 26.66 % were having high level.