{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T18:34:43Z","timestamp":1771266883773,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771200000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":15,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,31]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To assess the prevalence and associated factors of dietary practices among antenatal women in Colombo district, Sri Lanka.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This descriptive cross-sectional study examined dietary practices among antenatal mothers in four Medical Officer of Health areas in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A total of 422 participants were selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected via a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire and analysed using SPSS V.26. Dietary diversity, food variety and animal-source food consumption were assessed. Poisson regression identified predictors of dietary practices, adjusting for socio-economic and pregnancy-related factors. The statistical significance was set at p&lt;0.05.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Of the 380 antenatal mothers (mean age: 30.72\u00b13.96 years), most were married (98.2%) with 73.7% living in urban areas. Regarding dietary practices, 64.7% had high dietary diversity, while 35.3% had low diversity. Of the sample, 52.1% had a high food variety score and 64.7% had a high animal-source food score. More than half (64.7%) had appropriate dietary practices. Fruits, vitamin A-rich vegetables and rice were the most consumed foods. Key factors influencing dietary practices included age, religion, education, employment and geographical location.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study highlights the prevalence and factors influencing dietary practices among antenatal mothers. Although the predominant mothers had fair dietary diversities, a considerable number were found to have poor dietary practices. Better dietary practices were associated with major educational attainment, formal employment status and selected residential areas, while younger age, low educational qualification and housewife status were associated with poorer nutrition. The findings indicate that there is an urgent need for interventions related to nutrition for specific vulnerable groups so that they can improve their maternal nutrition and produce better pregnancy outcomes through education and support programmes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-103651","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]],"date-time":"2026-02-16T14:55:17Z","timestamp":1771253717000},"page":"e103651","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dietary practices among antenatal women in Sri Lanka: prevalence and associated factors"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"L H D D","family":"Jayasooriya","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"U H T","family":"Uthpala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"R D S G","family":"Rajamuni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"A M M","family":"Afridi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"N M I","family":"Nawanjana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"H S P","family":"Fernando","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-1465-3194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"D K M","family":"De Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"H M C M","family":"Herath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S26","DOI":"10.1301\/00296640260130704","article-title":"Maternal nutrition--effect on fetal growth and outcome of pregnancy","volume":"60","author":"Ramachandran","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nutr Rev"},{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3390\/nu12113242","article-title":"Factors Influencing Dietary Patterns during Pregnancy in a Culturally Diverse Society","volume":"12","author":"Fern\u00e1ndez-G\u00f3mez","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S763","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2022.307081","article-title":"Focusing on Maternal Nutrition to Improve the Health and Well-Being of Pregnant Women in the United States","volume":"112","author":"Ramakrishnan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Am J Public Health"},{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajog.2013.05.042","article-title":"Gestational weight gain as a risk factor for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy","volume":"209","author":"Macdonald-Wallis","year":"2013","journal-title":"Am J Obstet Gynecol"},{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/nu7031744"},{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"288","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clnesp.2024.12.006","article-title":"Impact of ultra-processed food consumption during pregnancy on maternal and child health outcomes: A comprehensive narrative review of the past five years","volume":"65","author":"Morales-Suarez-Varela","year":"2025","journal-title":"Clin Nutr ESPEN"},{"key":"2026021609461258000_16.2.e103651.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kushi EN , Belachew T , Tamiru D . 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