Adherence of pregnant women to dietary counseling and adequacy of total gestational weight gain.

INTRODUCTION in scientific literature there are not published researches which have used a validated assessment method of adherence to dietary counseling capable of being reproduced. OBJECTIVE to evaluate the adherence of pregnant women to dietary counseling during the prenatal period using a validated instrument according to the outcome of total gestational weight gain. METHODS two hundred and eight adult pregnant women participated in the research. The instrument for adherence classification to dietary counseling was elaborated according to four evaluation criteria: food quantity and quality, meal pattern and adjustment to weekly weight gain. We classified as poor adherence when zero-one criterion was observed, good adherence when 2-3 aspects were observed and excellent when the amount was 4 aspects. RESULTS Pregnant women with good or excellent adherence had a higher adjustment proportion of the total gestational weight gain in comparison to those who presented poor adherence in the second and fourth visits, respectively (p < 0.006; p < 0.007). Women with poor adherence to dietary counseling in the second visit presented about three times more chances of having poor adherence in the fourth visit (OR = 3.11; CI = 1.46-6.36). CONCLUSION Adherence of pregnant women to dietary counseling had a positive association with the adjustment of total gestational weight gain.