Abstract 007: Rural Southwest County Jail May Not Meet Recommendations For A Heart-healthy Diet During Pregnancy; A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy aged women are the fastest growing incarcerated population in the US. These women have little to no autonomy while incarcerated, including their nutritional intake. Inadequate macro and micronutrients during pregnancy can increase a mother’s risk for preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and coronary heart disease. However, it is unknown whether jails in the US provide adequate amounts of macro and micronutrients essential for pregnancy specific heart health while individuals are incarcerated. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that provisions from a rural Southwest county jail’s 7 day cycle menu, a weekly repeating menu of three meals a day, will not meet pregnancy specific heart healthy diet recommendations. Specifically, provisions of the menu will exceed recommendations of sodium, saturated fat, omega 6 fatty acid, and added sugars, and fail to meet recommendations of whole grains. Methods: The 7 day cycle menu was manually inputted into NutritionCalc Plus and ASA24, dietary assessment tools used to measure macro and micronutrient quantities of inputted food items. Average weekly sodium (mg), saturated fat (g), omega 6 (g), added sugar (g), and whole grain (% in comparison to refined grains) provisions were determined by summing total provisions over the 3 meals per day for 7 days and diving by 7. Excess or deficiency of macro and micronutrient provisions in the menu were estimated by determining as the proportions of macro and micronutrient provisions compared to heart healthy recommendations. Results: Average daily provisions of the 7 day menu were 3,847mg sodium, 26g saturated fat, 15g omega 6, and 12g of added sugar. These provisions translate into 167% of sodium (3,847 of 2,300), 200% saturated fat (26 of 13), 125% omega 6 (15 of 12), and 50% added sugar (12 of 24) guidelines of the heart healthy recommendations for pregnancy. Compared to whole grain recommendations of at least half of grain servings per day as whole, the provisions from the menu were 23% (1.75 of 7.70). Conclusions: In conclusion, although added sugar provisions from a rural Southwest county jail’s 7 day cycle menu were appropriate for a pregnancy specific heart healthy diet, provisions of sodium, saturated fat, and omega 6 exceeded guidelines, with a deficiency in whole grains. County jails should consider providing meals that limit sodium, saturated fat, and omega 6 and emphasize whole grains to ensure pregnant women in jail meet heart healthy recommendations to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. This research warrants larger epidemiological studies and cardiovascular health outcomes among pregnant women in jail.