NUTRIENT INTAKES DURING PREGNANCY IN A COHORT OF NULLIPAROUS WOMEN

Background: This study investigated dietary intake in a large cohort o f pregnant women. There are few data available on the diets of British pregnant women, and no study has previously compared the intakes of p regnant women, from both food and all sources, with those of non-pregn ant women or with the current dietary reference values. Methods: Dieta ry information was collected from 774 pregnant nulliparous women in th e early stages of pregnancy as part of the Prospective Study of Nutrit ion, Smoking and Pregnancy Outcome. Subjects completed 7-day semiquant itative food diaries, which were converted into nutrient values using the COMP-EAT 4 nutritional system. Results: Reference nutrient intake values were achieved by over 65% of the cohort for the nutrients inves tigated, except for vitamin D, folate, iron and selenium, where there was a considerable shortfall even after taking into account use of nut rient supplements. Conclusion: The dietary intake of the pregnant wome n in this study appears to be very similar to that of non-pregnant wom en in the Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults.