Consumo alimentar e prevalência de inadequação de ingestão de nutrientes entre gestantes, lactantes e mulheres em idade reprodutiva do Brasil

Abstract

Pregnancy and lactation increases nutritional requirements. The aim of this study was to compare food intake and prevalence of inadequate nutrient intake among pregnant, lactating and reproductive age women. Two-day dietary records of 322 pregnant and 751 lactating women were compared to 6837 non-pregnant and non-lactating women aged 19 to 40 years, from a nationwide representative sample. The prevalence of inadequate of nutrient intake was estimated by the National Cancer Institute method using the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) as cutoff point, except for sodium in which the tolerable upper intake level (UL) was used. Pregnant, lactating and reproductive age women did not differ in relation to the average consumption of 18 food groups, except from the rice, that was more consumed by lactating women. The prevalence of nutrient inadequacy in pregnant women was higher in relation to reproductive age women for vitamin B6 (59% versus 33%). Among lactating women prevalence was higher for vitamin A (95% versus 72%), vitamin C (56% versus 37%), vitamin B6 (75% vs. 33%), and zinc (64% versus 20%). The percentage of sodium intake above the tolerable maximum value was greater than 70% among all women studied. Inadequate intake is highly frequent among all women and increases during pregnancy and lactation.