Table 2.
Compliance with general healthy lifestyle recommendations and specific prepregnancy recommendations in women who did or did not become pregnant within three months of being interviewed. Values are percentages (95% confidence intervals) unless stated otherwise
| Variables | Not pregnant within 3 months (n=12 207) | Pregnant within 3 months (n=238) |
|---|---|---|
| General healthy lifestyle recommendations | ||
| Not smoking | 69 (68 to 70) | 74 (68 to 80) |
| Healthy eating: | ||
| Mean (95% CI) prudent diet score (SD) | 0.00 (−0.02 to 0.02) | 0.07 (−0.06 to 0.19) |
| Consumes ≥5 portions of fruit and vegetables daily | 53 (52 to 54) | 53 (46 to 59) |
| Any strenuous activity in past 3 months* | 64 (63 to 65) | 57 (50 to 63) |
| Specific prepregnancy recommendations | ||
| Alcohol intake: | ||
| Median (interquartile range) units consumed per week† | 4.8 (1.3-12.0) | 4.0 (1.0-9.5) |
| Mean (range) units consumed per week† | 9.0 (0-251) | 7.6 (0-92) |
| Never | 10 (9.5 to 11) | 7.6 (4.5 to 12) |
| ≤4 units/week | 46 (45 to 46) | 51 (44 to 57) |
| ≤14 units/week‡ | 80 (79 to 80) | 85 (80 to 89) |
| Folic acid supplements in past 3 months: | ||
| Any§ | 26 (25 to 26) | 44 (37 to 50) |
| ≥200 μg/day§ | 4.4 (4.0 to 4.7) | 19 (14 to 24) |
| ≥400 μg/day§ | 1.1 (0.91 to 1.3) | 5.5 (2.9 to 9.2) |
| ≤4 units alcohol per week and folic acid ≥400 μg/day§ | 0.66 (0.52 to 0.82) | 2.9 (1.2 to 6.0) |
Comparisons are not statistically significant at 5% level unless stated otherwise.
*P=0.03.
†P=0.007 for differences among those drinking any alcohol.
‡P=0.049.
§P<0.001.