Dietary Patterns and Prevalence of Anaemia among Pregnant Women in Selected Rural Communities in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Pregnant anaemia is a significant issue in terms of its major impact on 58% of the pregnant women in Nigeria and contributing maternal morbidity, preterm delivery and low birth weight. In the rural regions, the burden exceeds it because of the low nutritional variety, infections and inadequate antenatal care. Consequently, the objective of this paper was to assess the Dietary Patterns and Prevalence of Anaemia among Pregnant Women in Selected Rural Communities in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods. The findings indicated that 33.2% of the respondents were anaemic out of which 24.4% were mildly anaemic, 5.2% moderately, and 3.6% severely anaemic with 66.8% being normally haemoglobin. Though 99.6% were on haematinic supplements, 62.4% were consistent with stomach ache (56.0) and diarrhoea (11.6) were the frequent side effects. More than 58.4% (above half) were also ignorant about iron-rich foods, and 70.4% had pica behaviour. To identify which factors could be considered the most important predictors of haemoglobin level, multiple regression analysis was performed, as the meal pattern did not show significant relation with the level of haemoglobin (b = -0.079, p = 0.254). The paper finds that anaemia is a moderate community health issue in rural Lafia among pregnant women. It suggests increased nutrition education, supplement compliance, and dietary diversity by enhancing antenatal care services.