Nutritional knowledge during puerperium and its influencing factors among puerperal women in Guangzhou

Objective To investigate nutritional knowledge during puerperium and its influencing factors among puerperal women in both urban and suburb of Guangzhou and to provide basic data for intervention.Methods A self-designed questionnaire was administered among 2 013 women with puerperium history.Results The mean score of nutritional knowledge was 9.30±2.67 and the qualification rate was 66.9%.The mean score of nutritional knowledge of the urban subjects(9.82±2.47) was significantly higher than that of the suburban(8.78±2.75,t=8.893,P < 0.01).The correlation analyses demonstrated that nutritional education received,the times of prenatal examination,and the time of health care lesson during pregnant and puerperium were positively correlated with the scores with the r values of 0.216,0.249,and 0.249,respectively(P < 0.001 for all).Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the influencing factors were husband's education(β=0.696,P < 0.001),nutritional education(β=1.229,P < 0.001),family yearly income(β=0.489,P < 0.001),delivery location(β=-0.213,P=0.006),occupation(β=0.475,P=0.003),and age(β=0.387,P=0.004).Conclusion The women with puerperium history in Guangzhou had insufficient nutritional knowledge.Guidance on nutritional knowledge and dietary behavior should be implemented by taking acceptable measures for pregnant women.