Consumption of Iron Rich Food, Supplement Intake and Prevalence of Anaemia Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinical in Selected Hospitals in Enugu State

OBJECTIVES: Increase prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy in spite consumption of iron rich foods and micronutrient supplementation is worrisome. Hence, this study investigated the consumption of iron rich food, supplement intake and prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in selected hospitals in Enugu State. METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional study design with multistage random selection of 449 pregnant women (PW) attending antenatal clinic in health facilities in Enugu State, Nigeria. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and biochemical test for Haemoglobim level using a standard procedure. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square and Pearson correlation to establish the relationship between variables. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as the level of significance. RESULTS: The result shows that about 42.1% of the pregnant women were between the age group 26–35years and 30.4% earned < N20,000 ($50) monthly. Less than half of the PW consumed vegetable, fruits, beef and fish ≥ 4 times weekly. Less than half took folic acid, B-complex vitamins and ferrous sulphate twice daily, 36.9% had Anaemia (27.8% mild; 5.3% moderate; and 3.8% severe anaemia) and 76.8% had malaria. There was significant relationships between iron rich consumption, supplement intake especially iron supplement and prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in this study (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed poor consumption of iron rich food and poor compliance to supplements intake among pregnant women which accounted for the high prevalence of anaemia in the study population. FUNDING SOURCES: The research is self funded.