Evaluating maternal nutrition among the tribal pregnant women: A study from Shirpur Taluka, Maharashtra, India

Introduction Nutritional deficiencies are quite common among tribal pregnant women. Objectives To assess the dietary quality and nutritional risk among the tribal pregnant women using the FIGO checklist. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study evaluated 160 tribal pregnant women residing in the Shirpur taluka, Maharashtra, for the dietary quality and risk of nutrition related health issues among those visiting the tertiary care hospital for the ante-natal checkup. The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) nutrition checklist was used to assess the levels of nutrition and the haemoglobin levels were measured using the same portable haemoglobin meter by the researchers. Results Study identified 57.5% of pregnant tribal women as anaemic and 86.2% of women reported at least one negative dietary response. While assessing their everyday pattern, whole grains were consumed only by 69.4% of pregnant women, similarly, fruits and green leafy vegetable were consumed by 61.2%. Pregnant women with haemoglobin levels between 7.9 and 9 g/dL (p < 0.001) had notably lower odds of having better diet quality compared to women with normal haemoglobin levels (≥11 g/dL). Conclusion This study concludes the moderate occurrence of nutritional risk and low levels of haemoglobin in more than half of pregnant women.