Composition and Culture of Eating (CoCu) pregnancy: a new short questionnaire to evaluate diet composition and culture of eating during pregnancy.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The project aimed to validate a short questionnaire (CoCu pregnancy - Composition and Culture of Eating during pregnancy) and to investigate associations with age and socio-economic status (SES). DESIGN: The questionnaire was developed according to the validated CoCu for children and adolescents containing a diet composition (fourteen items) and a culture of eating part (six items). A Nutritional Health Score (NHS) was calculated based on diet composition (-120 and +120, with higher scores indicating healthier diets). The validity was assessed by comparing answers in CoCu pregnancy with a FFQ. In a subsample (n 97), we assessed the percentage of having chosen the same (or adjacent) response categories in the 24th and 36th week of pregnancy (wp). SETTING: Data were collected within the LIFE Child study in Leipzig, Germany. PARTICIPANTS: We evaluated 430 questionnaires of pregnant women (24th wp). RESULTS: The results indicated a healthy diet in the present sample (NHS at 24th wp = 49·74 (95 % CI 47·27, 52·22)). The analyses revealed significant positive correlations between CoCu and FFQ (rho ranging from 0·32 to 0·61). For each food item, >90 % of women had chosen the same (50-60 %) or adjacent response categories in the 24th and 36th wp. The analysis revealed associations of the NHS with age (ß = 0·11, P = 0·027), SES (ß = 0·21, P < 0·001), snacking (ß = -0·24, P < 0·001) and media use (ß = -0·18, P < 0·001). CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire represents a useful tool for surveying the diets during pregnancy for research and clinical practice.