Comparison of the nutritional status of pregnant adolescents with adult pregnant women. II. Anthropometric and dietary findings

Abstract

Weight, triceps and subscapular skinfold measurements, and mean intakes of 11 nutrients and calories were evaluated for 102 pregnant women in four age groups. The increase in weight during the antepartum period was the only significant finding for anthropometric measurements. Comparison of antepartum group means showed the two younger groups, 12-17 and 18-19 years, had higher intakes of calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, and iron than the two older groups, 20-24 and 25-32. The two older groups had higher mean intakes of vitamin A, thiamin, niacin, and ascorbic acid, most of them significantly so. In the postpartum period, there were no significant differences among age groups for mean intakes of calories, protein, fat, carbohydrate, or phosphorus. The two older groups had the higher mean intakes of the remaining nutrients. There were no significant differences among age groups for any of the nutrients with respect to level of education. Regardless of age, the subjects attending the low-cost clinic had a mean intake of iron significantly higher than those having private physicians, while the latter had a mean ascorbic acid intake significantly higher than that of the clinic group.