Food suggestions, meal frequency and dietary diversity among pregnant women: a quantitative study

During pregnancy, nutritional requirement increases. Therefore, many nutritious foods (diverse food groups) are suggested for pregnant. This study aimed to explore the association between food suggestion and meal frequency with dietary diversity among pregnant women. This research was a cross sectional study conducted in 2017 at Sumenep Regency in the Eastern Madura Island, East Java Province, Indonesia. There were 282 pregnant women involved in this study. Coefficient contingency were done to analyze the association between variables. Most of pregnant women eat 2-3x/day. More than half of pregnant women have a food suggestion (57.4%) and reach minimum dietary diversity (56%). There was a tendency that higher meal frequency contribute to higher dietary diversity but not significantly associated (p=0.024). There was a significant association between food suggestion and dietary diversity (p=0.003). Indigenous knowledge such as food suggestion have a beneficial effect on pregnant women diet. Pregnant women need to follow the food suggestions so they can have a good and diverse diet.