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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Feb 15;24(1):478.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-17862-x.

Maternal macronutrient and energy intake during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mohammad Khammarnia  1 , Alireza Ansari-Moghaddam  1 , Fatemeh Govahi Kakhki  2 , Cain Craig Truman Clark  3 , Fatemeh Bagher Barahouei  4
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Maternal macronutrient and energy intake during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mohammad Khammarnia et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Nutritional status during pregnancy can have a significant impact on infant and maternal health outcomes. To maintain maternal homeostasis and support fetal growth, adequate macronutrient and energy intake during pregnancy is essential. Therefore, this study sought to systematically review and meta-analyze macronutrient and energy intakes during pregnancy.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The required data were collected from four databases including: Web of Sciences, ProQuest, Scopus, and PubMed, from 1 January 1980 to 30 May 2023, by using a combination of search terms (dietary pattern" OR "diet quality" OR "food habits" OR "nutrition surveys" OR "diet surveys" OR "food-frequency questionnaire" OR "diet record" OR "dietary recall") AND ( "pregnancy" OR "reproduction" OR "maternal health" OR "neonatal outcomes") among interventional and observational studies. Excel and STATA version 11 were used for data analysis.

Results: Among 7081 published articles, 54 studies were included in the review. Most of the 33 (61%) studies were cohort studies and a total of 135,566 pregnant women were included. The overall average of energy, carbohydrate, fat, and protein intake was 2036.10 kcal/day, 262.17 gr/day, 74.17 gr/day, and 78.21 gr/day, respectively. Also, energy intake during pregnancy was higher in American (2228.31 kcal/day, CI95%: 2135.06-2325.63) and Eastern Mediterranean regions (2226.70 kcal/day, CI95%: 2077.23-2386.92) than other regions (P < 0.001). Energy intake was higher in the third trimester than others (2115.64 kcal/day, CI95%: 1974.15-2267.27). Furthermore, based on the findings, there was a significant difference between energy intake in different World Health Organization (WHO) regions (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: According to the results of meta-analysis, the average total energy was below than average total energy required during pregnancy. More efforts are needed to encourage women to adopt healthy eating habits during pregnancy to support healthy fetal and infant development.

Keywords: Child health; Energy; Macronutrient; Maternal health; Maternal nutrition; Pregnancy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram for the systematic review and Meta_analysis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The forest plot of the overall mean of protein
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The forest plot of the overall mean of carbohydrates
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The forest plot of the overall mean of fat
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The forest plot of the overall mean of energy
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The forest plot of average energy in 5 geographical areas
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
The forest plot of the overall mean of energy based on three questioners
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
The forest plot of the overall mean of energy based on study design
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
The forest plot of average energy based on 3 trimester
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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