Maternal Dry Bean Consumption During Pregnancy: Distribution and Nutritional Outcomes

OBJECTIVES: Dry beans and other pulses have a high nutritional profile. We aimed to characterize the frequency and amount of maternal dry bean consumption during pregnancy and their associations with diet quality and nutrient intake. METHODS: We conducted a secondary data analysis of pregnant women (N = 1,403) from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II, a longitudinal study that followed mother-infant pairs from late pregnancy until 6 years postpartum. Maternal dry bean consumption (frequency and amount), diet quality (Healthy Eating Index [HEI]), and nutrient intake were estimated with a Food Frequency Questionnaire completed in the third trimester of pregnancy. Associations of dry bean consumption with dietary quality and nutrient intake were examined with Analysis of Variance, Tukey's HSD pairwise comparisons, and determination coefficients. RESULTS: Mothers in the analytic sample were mainly White (83.5%), college educated (78.9%), and had middle household income (55.1% ≥ $40,000). Overall, maternal dry bean consumption was low (0.3 cups/week) during pregnancy, with 92% not meeting the current recommendation (1–3 cups/week). Maternal dry bean consumption significantly varied by race/ethnicity and geographic regions with mothers of Hispanics and Asian or living in South Central regions having relatively high consumption. Compared with never-consumers, mothers who consumed dry beans ≥ 1 time per week had a higher mean HEI score (67.5 vs 63.6), intake of total fiber (24.4 vs 17.4 g/d), and protein (93.4 vs 79.9 g/d), but a lower percentage of energy (12.6 vs 15.2%) from added sugar. Higher amount of dry bean consumption had a substantial contribution to the variation in intake of total fiber (determination coefficient, 10.3%), insoluble fiber (10.0%), soluble fiber (9.6%), and folate (8.2%). CONCLUSIONS: Dry bean consumption was low during pregnancy. Consumption of dry beans ≥ 1 time per week might help to improve maternal diet quality. FUNDING SOURCES: USDA (to XW and TR).