title: Dietary Calcium Intake, Serum Calcium Level, and their Association with Preeclampsia in Rural North India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Preeclampsia in pregnancy has been shown to be associated with low serum calcium level. Though the evidence is abundant, it is equivocal.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to estimate the dietary calcium intake and serum calcium status among pregnant women, and to document the association of the dietary calcium intake and serum calcium status with incidence of preeclampsia in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site, Ballabgarh, Haryana, India. All pregnant women between 28 weeks and 36 weeks of gestation were interviewed. A semi-structured interview schedule and a 24-h dietary recall questionnaire were administered to assess the dietary calcium intake. AutoAnalyser (Biolis 24i) was used for measuring serum calcium.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 217 pregnant women. The mean [standard deviation (SD)] dietary calcium intake was 858 (377) mg/day. The mean (SD) serum calcium level was 9.6 mg/dL (0.56). Incidence of preeclampsia was 13.4%. Preeclampsia was not associated with hypocalcemia [odds ratio (OR) = 1.2 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.27-3.98].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of pregnant women had inadequate dietary calcium intake. The prevalence of hypocalcemia was low. Low serum calcium level was not associated with preeclampsia. Calcium supplementation may not reduce preeclampsia in this population.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Anant
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Shashi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kant
authors.affiliation: Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Chandrakant S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Pandav
authors.affiliation: Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sanjeev K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sanjay K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.affiliation: Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Puneet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Misra
keywords: Dietary calcium intake; preeclampsia; pregnancy; rural; serum calcium