Skip to main content
. 2014 Nov 1;14:373. doi: 10.1186/s12884-014-0373-3

Table 2.

Reported and estimated daily energy, nutrient and food group intake

Pregnant women Referent women Pregnant vs referent women
Daily intake <35 years ≥35 years <35 years ≥35 years p -value
Based on means Based on residuals 6
(n = 176) (n = 33) p -value (n = 103) (n = 103) p -value
Nutrients
Reported total energy (kcal)1 1627 (1550–1703) 1529 (1345–1712) 0.334 1715 (1626–1804) 1682 (1592–1772) 0.612 0.013 -
 Carbohydrate (E%)1 45.7 (44.8-46.7) 46.9 (44.6-49.1) 0.353 45.2 (44.0-46.5) 48.0 (46.8-49.3) 0.705 0.649 -
 Fat (E%)1 38.9 (37.9.2-39.9) 36.1 (33.7-38.4) 0.028 38.8 (37.5-40.1) 34.2 (32.9-35.5) 0.215 0.183 -
 Protein (E%)1 14.7 (14.4-15.0) 15.7 (15.0-16.5) 0.017 15.0 (14.5-15.5) 16.1 (15.6-16.6) 0.264 0.259 -
 Alcohol (E%)1 0.5 (0.4-0.7) 1.2 (0.8-1.6) 0.003 0.9 (0.6-1.1) 1.4 (1.1-1.7) 0.022 0.019 -
Estimated total energy (kcal)2 2033 (1938–2130) 1911 (1681–2141) 2144 (2032-2256 2102 (1990–2215) -
 Whole grain (g)2 57.6 (54.2-61.1) 76.6 (68.4-84.8) <0.001 61.8 (56.6-67.0) 75.8 (70.5-81.0) <0.001 0.784 0.960
 Sucrose (g)2 32.4 (30.3-34.5) 27.8 (22.8-32.9) 0.105 33.4 (30.4-36.3) 30.7 (27.7-33.7) 0.232 0.810 0.985
 Total fat (g)2 86.5 (83.6-89.5) 79.1 (72.0-86.2) 0.059 91.3 (87.3-95.2) 78.4 (74.4-82.4) <0.001 0.561 0.173
 Saturated fatty acids (g)2 34.9 (33.4-36.3) 33.0 (29.6-36.4) 0.315 36.7 (34.9-38.6) 32.1 (30.3-34.0) 0.001 0.385 0.158
 Monounsaturated fatty acids (g)2 29.6 (28.6-30.6) 27.6 (25.2-30.0) 0.144 32.8 (31.4-34.3) 28.4 (27.0-29.9) <0.001 0.203 0.329
 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (g)2 16.4 (15.5-17.4) 12.9 (10.6-15.2) 0.006 17.1 (15.8-18.4) 13.2 (12.0-14.5) <0.001 0.954 0.655
 Iodine (μg)2 151 (144–159) 140 (123–157) 0.237 159 (149–169) 170 (160–181) 0.113 0.278 0.448
 Calcium (mg)2 913 (867–960) 966 (855–1078) 0.390 904 (839–967) 919 (854–984) 0.752 0.101 0.072
 “with supplement (mg)2,3 948 (901–996) 999 (886–1112) 0.418 916 (851–981) 924 (859–990) 0.860 0.023 0.014
 Iron (mg)2 12.9 (12.5-13.4) 13.4 (12.3-14.5) 0.478 14.3 (13.7-14.8) 14.7 (14.2-15.3) 0.243 0.032 0.032
 “with supplement (μg)2,3 14.9 (13.9-15.8) 15.3 (12.9-17.6) 0.737 15.9 (14.9-16.9) 15.2 (14.3-16.2) 0.381 0.734 0.996
 Vitamin D (μg)2 6.6 (6.3-6.9) 6.7 (6.0-7.4) 0.890 6.9 (6.5-7.3) 6.3 (5.9-6.7) 0.024 0.433 0.212
 “with supplement (μg)2,3 9.9 (9.2-10.5) 10.6 (9.1-12.2) 0.375 8.1 (7.5-8.7) 7.2 (6.6-7.9) 0.071 <0.001 <0.001
 Folate (μg)2 277 (253–301) 280 (222–338) 0.939 300 (274–326) 327 (300–353) 0.169 0.629 0.946
 “with supplement (μg)2,3 423 (386–460) 458 (369–547) 0.478 353 (316–389) 370 (333–407) 0.522 <0.000 <0.001
 Vitamin B12 (μg)2 5.4 (5.1-5.7) 5.6 (4.9-6.4) 0.506 6.0 (5.5-6.4) 5.6 (5.2-6.1) 0.263 0.450 0.675
 “with supplement (μg)2,3 6.5 (6.1-6.8) 7.0 (6.1-7.8) 0.305 6.4 (5.9-6.8) 5.9 (5.4-6.4) 0.210 0.056 0.015
Foods
 Potato/rice/pasta (g)4 169 (155–182) 145 (113–176) 0.170 186 (165–207) 211 (190–231) 0.248 0.004 -
 Meat/fish (g)4 99 (91–107) 110 (92–129) 0.295 125 (113–138) 127 (115–140) 0.992 0.001 -
 Vegetables (g)4 102 (84–119) 71 (30–112) 0.172 141 (112–169) 149 (121–178) 0.686 0.002 -
Supplements (%) 5
 Multi-vitamin 40.9 51.5 0.258 14.6 13.6 0.841 <0.001 -
 Multi-mineral 17.6 15.2 0.731 5.8 2.9 0.498 <0.000 -
 Iron 10.8 12.1 0.766 8.7 2.9 0.134 0.058 -

Data are presented as mean/median with 95% CI/min-max, respectively. Further, proportion (%) reporting intake of a supplement the latest two weeks in early pregnant women and a population based referent group.

1Mean values are based on reported FFQ frequencies, with adjustment for education (university yes/no), body mass index (3 groups) and smoking (yes/no) in age groups and also for age group in pregnancy status groups using a generalized linear model. Carbohydrate, fat, protein, and alcohol intake are presented as the proportion of total reported energy intake originating from the respective nutrient/alcohol (E%). Differences between groups are tested with Student’s t-test.

2Energy and nutrient intake increased by 25% to adjust for underreporting resulting from shortening of the FFQ by 25% from the original validated version. Means are adjusted for education (university yes/no), body mass index (3 groups) and smoking (yes/no) and age group as described in footnote 1. Differences between groups are tested with Student’s t-test.

3Mean values represent estimated adjusted nutrient intake with addition from supplements in those who reported intake of a multivitamin, multimineral, or iron supplement the latest 2 weeks. Addition has been done with the most common content in over-the-counter sold supplements targeting women, i.e. calcium 200 mg, iron 18 mg, vitamin D 7.5 μg, folate 200 μg as folic acid, and vitamin B12 2.5 μg. Adjustment and testing are as described in footnote 2.

4Mean values are based on reported FFQ frequencies and portion sizes as defined in the basic FFQ validation study [18].

5Numbers represent proportion (%) reporting intake of a supplement the latest 2 weeks. Differences in sampling distribution were tested with Pearson’s Chi-square test or Fischer’s exact test if five or fewer observations in a cell.

6Residuals from the regression of the nutrient on energy were used for testing (Students t-test) according to the residual method described by Willet [27,34].