Pregnant women's diets and fatty acid intake - a study of the frequency of intake of products that are sources of fatty acids among women in the third trimester of pregnancy

Grot Martina, Grabowska Kinga, Białek-Dratwa Agnieszka, Grajek Mateusz. Pregnant women's diets and fatty acid intake - a study of the frequency of intake of products that are sources of fatty acids among women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2022;12(7):579-595. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.07.058 https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/JEHS.2022.12.07.058 https://zenodo.org/record/6879716 The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343. Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences). Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159. Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu). © The Authors 2022; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 10.07.2022. Revised: 17.07.2022. Accepted: 22.07.2022. Pregnant women's diets and fatty acid intake - a study of the frequency of intake of products that are sources of fatty acids among women in the third trimester of pregnancy Martina Grot1, Kinga Grabowska2, Agnieszka Białek-Dratwa3*, Mateusz Grajek4 1 Faculty of Health Sciences in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Piekarska 18, 41-902 Bytom, Poland; 2 RównoWaga- Poradnia Dietetyczna, Wodzisław Ślaśki 3 Department of Human Nutrition, Department of Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Jordana 19, 41-808 Zabrze, Poland; ORCID: 0000-0002-7798-6424; abialek@sum.edu.pl 4 Department of Public Health, Department of Public Health Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences in Bytom, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Piekarska 18, 41-902 Bytom, Poland; ORCID: 0000-0001-6588-8598; mgrajek@sum.edu.pl *Correspondence: abialek@sum.edu.pl Jordana 19, 41-808 Zabrze, Poland; ABSTRACT: Background: Polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential for the human body, have several positive functions that affect human health. Pregnancy is a time of particular demand for these acids, especially DHA and EPA, whose sources are mainly oily marine fish. The supply of adequate amounts of these acids conditions the proper development of the fetus, influencing, among other things, the formation of the central nervous system and the development of the child's retina, as well as protecting against premature birth and increasing the child's birth weight. The aim of the study was to assess the frequency of consumption of fish, vegetable oils, and products rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and evaluate DHA supplementation by pregnant women, as well as to assess knowledge of PFAs, especially DHA and EPA. Material and methods: 210 pregnant women were included in the study. A self-administered and online survey questionnaires were used as the research tool. A database was created using Microsoft Excel. Results: According to the recommended amounts, 2-3 times a week, Marine fish was consumed by only 12.86% of the women surveyed. Regular consumption of ALA-rich products, such as flaxseed, was declared by 10 respondents, while 59.05% of the surveyed women did not consume it at all. The use of DHA acid supplementation during pregnancy was unequivocally declared by 58 women surveyed, representing only ¼ of the women surveyed. Conclusions: The dietary behavior of pregnant women related to fish consumption is not correct, the overall proportion of fish in the diet of the subjects does not cover the recommended amounts. Vegetable oils and products rich in PFAs are not consumed with adequate frequency by pregnant women. DHA supplementation by pregnant women, despite low fish consumption, is underestimated and at a very low level. Keywords: Polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3, fish, DHA, EPA, intake assessment, pregnant women