Food aversion during pregnancy and its association with nutritional status of pregnant women in Boricha Woreda, Sidama Regional State, Southern Ethiopia, 2019. A community based mixed crossectional study design

Plain language summary Pregnancy is a complex and absolutely important period in women's life. Thus, in order to sustain a successful pregnancy, a mother experiences a number of physiological and behavioral changes. Notably, food aversions are the number one changes experienced by pregnant women. Food aversions are characterized by the repulsion and avoidance of particular foods and the most common aversions are nonalcoholic caffeinated beverages, meat, fish, poultry and eggs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the magnitude and its association with nutritional status of Pregnant Women in order to provide concrete scientific evidence for the concerned stakeholders. A community based mixed cross-sectional study was conducted among 505 pregnant mothers selected from five randomly selected kebeles of Boricha Woreda. Pregnant women in the age range of 19 to 49 years and who were apparently healthy were interviewed. Four hundred ninety seven participants were interviewed voluntarily with a response rate of 98.4%. The mean (+/- SD) age of the women was 22.3 (+/- 5.5) years. Pregnant women who were averted at least one food were 344(69.2%); where cereal (45.9%) and enset (44.2%) were averted by the majority of the participants. Hence pregnant women who practice food aversion had higher likely to be a malnourished. Pregnant women who were less than thirty three years of age, who had nausea, and ate additional meal were more urged to avert a particular foods. Whereas, women with better nutritional status had less food aversion practice. In conclusion; despite a pregnant woman requires a healthy diet embedded with adequate intake of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to meet maternal and fetal needs, the magnitude of food aversion and maternal under nutrition in the study area was high. Background Despite high prevalence, food aversions are closely linked to the dietary intake of pregnant women. Thus, understanding this behavior is important in addressing the issue of maternal nutrition. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide information on the prevalence and associated factors of food aversion and its relationship with the nutritional status of pregnant women in Boricha Woreda, Sidama Regional state, Southern Ethiopia, 2019. Methods A community based mixed cross sectional study was conducted among 505 randomly selected pregnant mothers at Boricha Woreda, Southern Ethiopia from June 1-20, 2019. Pre-tested and structured face-to-face interview questionnaire and focus group discussion guide were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The quantitative data were cleaned, coded and entered into Epi Info version 7.1.4.0 and then exported to SPSS IBM version 20 for further analysis. The qualitative data were analyzed manually using a content analysis.The bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the possible factors of food aversion. AOR with the respective 95% CIs was used to declare statistical significance. Results Nearly, seven-in-ten (69.2%) of the pregnant women were averted of at least one food. Cereal (45.9%) and enset (44.2%) were averted by majority of the participants. The mean (+/- SD) MUAC measurement was 22.7 (+/- 2.4) cm. Pregnant women of age group of 24-28 [AOR = 3.04, 95% CI (1.72-5.35)] and 29-33 years [AOR = 2.00, 95% CI (1.02-3.92)], nausea during [AOR = 1.77, 95% CI (1.16-2.70)] and having additional meal [AOR = 1.68, 95% CI (1.02-2.75)] were significantly associated with food aversion. Maternal nutritional status and food aversion was sstatistically significant (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion High prevalence of food aversions (69.2%) and under nutrition (34.6%) among pregnant women is found. Therefore, the Woreda Health Office needs to intensify the integration of maternal nutrition into ANC services and training of health providers as well as critical appraisal of health extension workers should also be considered.

Automated summary

Pregnancy is a crucial period in a woman's life, during which physiological and behavioral changes, particularly food aversions, can lead to malnutrition. Younger pregnant women, those experiencing nausea, and those consuming additional meals are more likely to have food aversions. High prevalence of food aversions and under nutrition among pregnant women in the study area indicate a need for improved maternal nutrition services.