Resumo

MENDOZA, L; PEREZ, B  e  SANCHEZ BERNAL, S. Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women in the Last Month of Pregnancy and its Relation to Anthropometric Measurements in Newborns. Pediatr. (Asunción) [online]. 2010, vol.37, n.2, pp.91-96. ISSN 1683-9803.

Introduction: The nutritional status of pregnant women is a key factor in their own health and that of their child. Appropriate birth weight benefits health and significantly reduces risk for neonates. Objective: To assess the association of nutritional status in at-term pregnant women with anthropometric measurements of their newborns (NB). Materials and Methods: A cross sectional, observational, and analytical study conducted with 75 healthy pregnant women and their NB at the Hospital de Lambaré. The study recorded demographic data, presence of anemia, pregestational (per WHO) and end-term (per Atalah and Rosso-Mardones) nutritional status of the mother, along with the weight and length of newborns for gestational age (GA) by WHO criteria. Results: Mean maternal age was 26±5 years and median family size was 3 persons. Anemia was found in 11 mothers (15%). Pregestational body mass index (PBMI) averaged 24.0±4 kg/m2 and 29.4±4 kg/m2 at term. A total of 51 (68%) presented appropriate PBMI by WHO standards. Using Atalah, 14 (18.7%) were obese and 9 (12%) underweight, while the Rosso-Mardones graph showed 22 (29.3%) were obese and 14 (18.7%) were underweight. Average birthweight was 3447±405g and length 50 ± 2.2 cm, while head circumference was 34±1.4 cm. Appropriate weight for gestational age was found in 59 newborns (79%), while 70 (93%) had normal weight/age Z-scores, and 67 (89%) had appropriate Z-scores for length/age. Obese pregnant women as defined by Rosso-Mardones (n=22) had a greater proportion of large for gestational age newborns (27% vs 9%; χ2, p = 0.04), while underweight pregnant women (n = 14, per Rosso-Mardones) had a higher percentage of infants with BW <3,000 (36% vs 11%, χ2, Fisher p = 0.04).No correlation was found between PBMI and BW (r = 0.2) or length (r = 0.04). Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of overweight pregnant women and newborns with appropriate birth anthropometry. Obese pregnant women had a higher proportion of large newborns while low-weight mothers had more underweight newborns.

Palavras-chave : Maternal nutritional status; newborn; birth weight.

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