Predictors of Nutritional Practices among Pregnant Women Attendinag Ante-Natal Clinic in Health Centres in Akpor Kingdom of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Niger Delta

Abstract

This study investigated the predictors of nutritional practices among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic in health centres in Akpor Kingdom of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. A descriptive design was used for this study. The target population for this study was seven hundred (700) pregnant women. A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 422. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.70. Data was collected through face to face administration of the questionnaires to the respondents and analyzed using the Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) version 23.0. Hypotheses were tested with the regression statistics at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study showed that nutritional preference significantly predicted the nutritional practices of the pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic in health centres in the study area (r = 0.448, p<0.05). Other factors considered in this study such as knowledge (r = 0.078, p>0.05), age (r = 0.010, p>0.05) and educational status (r = 0.061, p>0.05) did not significantly predict the nutritional practices of the pregnant women. It was concluded that the predictor of nutritional practices among pregnant women attending ante-natal in Akpor Kingdom was their nutritional preference. It was recommended that, midwives should focus on conveying health information in their lessons during antenatal visits of pregnant women in such a way that their nutritional preferences can be influenced positively.