Table 3.
Total diet quality and its components in women categorized by their time since childbirth.
| Diet Quality Component | Early Postpartum (0–6 Months) n = 558 |
Late Postpartum (7–12 Months) n = 547 |
Women > 12 Months Post Childbirth n = 3434 |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diet variety | 5.7 (1.2) | 5.6 (1.3) | 5.2 (1.4) | <0.001 * |
| Vegetables | 4.3 (1.8) | 4.6 (1.9) | 4.4 (1.9) | 0.002 ** |
| Fruit | 10.0 (0.43) | 9.9 (0.65) | 9.9 (0.79) | 0.429 |
| Breads and cereals | 6.1 (2.3) | 5.9 (2.2) | 5.0 (2.3) | <0.001 * |
| Wholegrain proportion | 7.6 (4.2) | 7.9 (4.1) | 6.7 (4.7) | <0.001 * |
| Lean meat | 9.6 (1.1) | 9.7 (1.1) | 9.5 (1.3) | 0.011 *** |
| Lean meat proportion | 8.3 (1.0) | 8.4 (1.0) | 8.2 (1.0) | 0.009 *** |
| Dairy | 8.5 (1.9) | 8.3 (2.0) | 7.6 (2.3) | <0.001 * |
| Type of milk consumed | 0.024 *** | |||
| No milk, soya, skim milk | 165 (29.6) | 152 (27.8) | 1088 (31.7) | |
| Reduced fat milk | 206 (36.9) | 205 (37.5) | 1094 (31.9) | |
| Full cream milk | 187 (33.5) | 190 (34.7) | 1249 (36.4) | |
| Saturated fat | 8.4 (1.1) | 8.3 (1.1) | 7.9 (1.2) | <0.001 * |
| Extra foods | 0.043 **** | |||
| ≤2.5 serves/day) | 4 (0.72) | 9 (1.7) | 78 (2.3) | |
| >2.5 serves per day | 554 (99.3) | 538 (98.4) | 3356 (97.7) | |
| Total DGI | 89.8 (10.5) | 90.0 (10.2) | 85.2 (11.7) | <0.001 * |
Data are presented as mean (standard deviation) for continuous variables and frequency and percentage (%) for categorical variables. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and the chi-squared test for categorical outcomes. Dietary guideline index (DGI). * Statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between early postpartum compared to women >12 months post childbirth and late postpartum compared to women >12 months post childbirth. ** Statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between early postpartum compared to late postpartum and late postpartum compared to women >12 months post childbirth. *** Statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between late postpartum compared to women >12 months post childbirth. **** Statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between early postpartum and women >12 months post childbirth.