*Corresponding author:
Natalia Sales de Carvalho, Professor of the Nutrition Course at Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR). Master’s Degree in Nutrition and Health, BrazilReceived: February 27, 2018; Published: March 08, 2018
DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.03.000831
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The eating habits and choices of pregnant women can be influenced by the innumerable physical and emotional aspects that characterize pregnancy [1]. Healthy eating does not only depend on access to adequate nutritional information. It is necessary that health professionals who work with nutrition education have an expanded view of nutrition, seeking to know which factors may influence the dietary decisions of these women [2-4]. During prenatal care, pregnant women should be understood in an integral manner and not fragmented. Physical and emotional issues should be associated with the family and community context, and with the social relationships. Thus, primary health care professionals must act in the attention to women’s health considering all these aspects and establishing a close relation of appreciation of each person’s individuality [5]. Food as an integral and fundamental part of the pregnant women’s health must also be worked out from this expanded view, especially in nutritional education [2,4,6]. In addition to the factors already mentioned, there are other aspects that may influence food habits, such as the pleasure associated with the taste of food, the family’s eating habits, the age or stage of psychosocial development, food hygiene, health concerns, philosophical and religious representations about feeding, concerns with the body, among others. It is necessary to know these aspects from a psychological and sociocultural point of view, in order to understand the decision about food choices [2-4].