Barriers to adequate nutrition in pregnant adolescent Colombian females

Erin L. Sherer; Ana Maria Bello Trujillo

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2023-0060

Article

Barriers to adequate nutrition in pregnant adolescent Colombian females

Erin L. Sherer and Ana Maria Bello Trujillo

Published/Copyright: July 3, 2023

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From the journal International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health Volume 35 Issue 4

Abstract

Pregnant adolescent females face nutritional challenges. The nutritional demands of a growing fetus, when added to the requirements for growing adolescent bodies, are risk factors for undernutrition. An adolescent expectant mother’s nutritional status therefore affects both the mother’s and the child’s future growth, development, and potential development of diseases later in life. In Colombia, the rate of female adolescent pregnancies is higher than neighboring countries and the global average. The most recent data suggest that approximately 21 % of all pregnant adolescent females in Colombia are underweight, 27 % suffer from anemia, 20 % suffer from vitamin D deficiency, and 19 % suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency. Contributing factors to these nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy may be the region in which the female lives, the female’s ethnicity, and the female’s socioeconomic and educational status. In rural parts of Colombia, limitations regarding access to prenatal care and food choices that include animal source proteins may also contribute to nutritional deficiencies. To help remedy this, recommendations include encouraging nutrient dense food sources with higher protein content, eating one additional meal per day, and taking a prenatal vitamin throughout the pregnancy. Making healthy eating choices can be difficult for adolescent females with limited resources and education; therefore, it is recommended that discussions about nutrition begin at the first prenatal visit for optimum benefits. These factors should be considered for the development of future health policies and interventions in Colombia and other low-income and middle-income countries where pregnant adolescent females may be experiencing similar nutritional deficiencies.

Keywords: adolescent pregnancy; Colombia; maternal undernutrition; nutrition; pregnant; prenatal

Corresponding author: Erin L. Sherer, EdD, PA-C, RD, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA, E-mail: els2183@tc.columbia.edu.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the entire faculty, staff, and fellow trainees at the Weill Cornell Medicine Career Advancement for Research in Health Equity (CARE T37) program. The authors are also grateful for the support of Dr. Fredy Pomares Herrera, Dean of Medicine at the University of Cartagena in Colombia, for his enthusiasm and support for research collaboration. The authors express their gratitude to James Sherer for supporting this research.

Research funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Author contributions: ES and AMBT wrote the main manuscript text and ES prepared figures 1–3. All authors contributed and reviewed the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors declare they have no competing interests.
Informed consent: Not applicable.
Ethical approval: Not applicable.

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Received: 2023-04-28

Accepted: 2023-06-17

Published Online: 2023-07-03

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2023-0060

Keywords for this article

adolescent pregnancy; Colombia; maternal undernutrition; nutrition; pregnant; prenatal