Anemia and Dietary Habits among Pregnant Women in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Aims: To determine the prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women in Jazan in the Southern region of Saudi Arabia, and identify some food habits of pregnant women. The association between having anaemia and some maternal factors like age and obstetric history are also studied.

Study Design: A descriptive cross sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Five different health care centres and Jazan general hospital in Jazan, Southern region of Saudi Arabia during November 2014.

Methodology: A sample of 389 pregnant women in the reproductive age (15-49 years) was studied. Cluster sampling was used to choose the different health facilities and systemic random sampling technique was used to select the women within these institutes.

Data was collected using a pre-structured interview questionnaire and review of files of pregnant women in these facilities.

Results: The prevalence of anaemia among the pregnant women was found 58.9%. The percentage of pregnant women who experienced cravings was 35.5%, 56.1 % had aversions and 67.3 % had pica. The study also found that two thirds of women who got pregnant more than 5 times were anaemic with a P value (0.005). However, no significant relation was found between anaemia and maternal age, number of deliveries or number of abortions.

Conclusion: Anaemia among pregnant women in Jazan region is high. Many pregnant women experience cravings and aversions which affect their nutrition. These findings signal the need for proper interventions to address female’s nutritional habits in this area. Nutritional advice during ante-natal care visits for pregnant women are advised.