A cross-sectional survey investigating women's information sources, behaviour, expectations, knowledge and level of satisfaction on advice received about diet and supplements before and during pregnancy

Background The reported long-term effects of poor maternal nutrition and uptake of recommended supplements before and during pregnancy was the impetus behind this study. Our objectives were to investigate and understand women’s expectations, knowledge, behaviour and information sources used regarding the use of nutrition and vitamin supplements before and during pregnancy. Methods A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was undertaken. A purposive sampling technique was used. Women attending the antenatal clinic at Croydon University Hospital during 2015 were invited to take part in the study. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, paired sample T-tests and Chi-squared tests, with the level of significance set at 5% (p < 0.05). Results A total of 133 pregnant women completed the survey. Analysis of the results showed that women are currently using electronic resources (33%, n = 42) rather than healthcare professionals (19%, n = 25) as an information source before pregnancy. Women who sourced information through the internet were significantly more likely to take folic acid (p = 0.006) and vitamin D (p = 0.004) before pregnancy. Women preferred to receive information from the antenatal clinic (62%, n = 83), internet (46%, n = 61) and from mobile applications (27%, n = 36). Although women believed they had sufficient knowledge (60%, n = 80) and had received adequate advice (53%, n = 70) concerning the correct supplements to take, this was not demonstrated in their behaviour, with only a small number of women (37%, n = 49) taking a folic acid supplement before pregnancy. Women mistakenly perceived the timing of supplement advice as correct, with only a small number of women (18%, n = 23) considering the advice on supplements as too late. Conclusions Despite the small sample size, this study demonstrated that women did not receive timely and/or accurate advice to enable them to take the recommended supplements at the optimal time. Women had the misconception that they understood the correct use of pregnancy supplements. This misunderstanding may be prevented by providing women intending to become pregnant with a structured, approved electronic source of information that improves their supplements uptake

Mindful Attention and Eating Expectancies Among Trauma-Exposed Latinx College Students

Rates of trauma exposure among college students are high, and extant work suggests that greater trauma-exposure risk is associated with ethnic minority status. Moreover, maladaptive health behaviors (e.g., disordered eating) are common among trauma-exposed individuals, as well as college students and Latinx individuals. There is a need, however, to further understand the cognitive processes that underlie maladaptive eating among these populations, such as the expectations related to the function of eating. Mindful attention may be an important factor related to eating expectancies among trauma exposed, Latinx college students. The current study employed a cross-sectional design, examining mindful attention in relation to expectancies of eating to help manage negative affect, expectancies of eating to alleviate boredom, and expectancies of eating to lead to feeling out of control among Latinx, trauma-exposed college students. Participants included 304 undergraduate Latinx students who reported some amount of trauma exposure (84.5% females; Mage = 22.8 years, SD = 5.79). Results of our study indicated that lower levels of mindful attention were associated with strong expectancies that eating will manage negative affect, alleviate boredom, and lead to a loss of control. These results were observed over and above variance accounted for by sex, body mass index (BMI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity. These findings suggest that increased mindful attention may be a protective factor against eating expectancies and subsequent disordered eating among trauma-exposed, Latinx college students. This project was completed with contributions from Jafar Bakhshaie from Baylor College of Medicine.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg