Multidimensional Approach to Assess Nutrition and Lifestyle in Breastfeeding Women during the First Month of Lactation

Abstract

The first month of lactation is a vulnerable nutritional period for the mother. Our aims were (1) to evaluate the nutritional status of breastfeeding women in the first month of lactation, and (2) to explore different aspects of nutrition and lifestyle through a multidimensional approach. A total of 30 healthy breastfeeding women were enrolled in this study. Dietary pattern was assessed through a 72-hour dietary recall questionnaire (days 7 and 28 postpartum) and data were compared with Dietary Recommendation Values (DRV), and through the Adherence to Healthy Food Pyramid (HFP) questionnaire (day 28). Anthropometric parameters were evaluated by bioimpedance. Using factor analysis, nutritional dimensions were extracted, and linear regression models were used to analyze the association between anthropometric parameters and dimensions. Compared to the DRV, women showed insufficient energy, water, vitamin D, and potassium intake and excessive proteins, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, and iron intake. We observed a moderate adherence to the HFP, with women being high in the fruits, vegetables, and oil categories, and low adherence to the physical activity, dairy products, and hydration categories. The nutritional dimension, including the HFP categories of physical activity, hydration, and animal protein intake together, was negatively associated with body weight (β = -3.7 ± 1.7; p-value = 0.047). In conclusion, during the first month postpartum, breastfeeding women exhibited several nutritional imbalances and poor physical activity negatively influencing anthropometric parameters. We propose a multidimensional approach to assess the nutritional status of breastfeeding women as a tool to detect specific deficiencies, allowing for personalized counseling.

Keywords: body composition; breastfeeding; diet intake; feeding behavior; food consumption; multidimensional scaling analysis.

Figure 1

Scores of the AP-Q categories, segmented by quartiles. Data show the median ± standard error of the mean. AP-Q categories range from 0 to 1, being 1 high adherence HFP guidelines.

Figure 2

Correlogram between maternal body composition and dietary pattern dimensions ordered by hierarchical cluster. Body mass index (BMI). The legend represents Spearman’s rho coefficient with p-value ≤ 0.05. White grid were coefficients with p-value > 0.05.