Date of Award

2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nutrition and Food Science

Department

Nutrition and Food Sciences

First Advisor

Maya Vadiveloo

Abstract

Studies examining prenatal diet quality in the US indicate that pregnant women are not currently meeting national dietary recommendations. Though prenatal diet quality is generally poor, certain population sub-groups may be disproportionately impacted, however, few studies have examined diet quality disparities in pregnant women. In order to better understand disparities in prenatal diet quality, this study seeks to characterize the relationship between maternal sociodemographic factors and prenatal diet quality, specifically examining socioeconomic status, race, pre-pregnancy BMI, and gestational weight gain as an exploratory aim. Cross sectional data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II informed this secondary analysis. To explore these relationships, we used generalized linear models to examine the associations between socioeconomic status, race, pre-pregnancy BMI, and gestational weight gain and Alternative Health Eating Index for Pregnancy (a measure of diet quality during pregnancy) total and component scores. Models were adjusted for age, energy intake, and relevant covariates. Post-hoc testing with Tukey adjustment was used to compare scores between groups. Findings indicated that prenatal diet quality disparities were present in women with middle- and low-income, non-Hispanic Black women, and women with overweight and obese pre-pregnancy BMIs.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.