title: On the Study of Pre-Pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) and Weight Gain as Indicators of Nutritional Status of Pregnant Women Belonging to Low Socio-Economic Category: A Study from Assam.
abstract: Women, particularly pregnant women, are the most vulnerable population of the society and their health status is one of the major indicators of development. There were enough studies on pre pregnancy body mass index (IPBMI) and inadequate weight gain during pregnancy (IWGP) of women in other part of the world and India, but none in Assam. In Assam a large number of population are in the category of low socio-economic group, a group most vulnerable to under nutrition. Thus this study was framed with the said indicators to throw light on the factors affecting the health status of pregnant women to accordingly address the situation. A cross sectional study using multistage sampling design with probability proportional to size was made comprising of 461 pregnant women belonging to low socio-economic status. Responses regarding their socio-economic, socio-cultural, health, diet and environmental background were collected and coded. The study revealed that although IPBMI (34.06%) was slightly lower than the reported state, national and global percentage the revealed IWGP (82%) was an astounding figure. The blood samples analyzed showed a high degree of inadequacy in almost all micronutrients (iron 63.1%, calcium 49.5% and copper 39.9%) studied in our survey.
authors.affiliation: Central Computational and Numerical Studies, Life Science Division, Paschim Boragaon, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India.
authors.forename: Lipi B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Mahanta
authors.affiliation: National Health Mission (NHM), Assam, Office of the Mission Director, NHM, Assam, Saikia Commercial Complex, Guwahati, Assam, India.
authors.forename: Manisha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.affiliation: Resource Management and Environment Section, Life Science Division, Paschim Boragaon, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati, Assam, India.
authors.forename: Arundhuti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.affiliation: Marwari Maternity Hospital and Research Centre, Guwahati, Assam, India.
authors.forename: Arunima
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
keywords: Nutritional status; pre-pregnancy BMI; pregnancy; risk factors; weight gain