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A strong association exists between eating pattern and nutrient intakes and women’s reproductive outcomes. The present study thus aimed at seeing the effects of these parameters on infertility.
To see the effect on infertility a comparison was made with fertile women using a pretested questionnaire in which information was collected about eating pattern and nutrients intake. The samples of 120 women (60 fertile and 60 infertile women) were collected from Nowrosjee Wadia maternity hospital, Parel, Mumbai. The subjects included in the study were between 25-32 year old women and all of them were from low socioeconomic background. About 80% of them were Hindus. Most of the subjects were form Maharashtra. In all 75% women were found to be not working and 25% were doing either service or business. Working women were found to be higher in infertile women. Very few women were found to be having medical problems. All infertile and fertile women were married since 5-10 years. All fertile women had their first child in between 1 to 3 years of married life.
In this study it was observed that the nutrient intakes were higher in fertile women. A detailed 24 hour recall was done for three days for a sub sample of 60 women (30 infertile and 30 fertile) for the assessment of nutritional status. Highly significant result was found in nutrient intake such as calorie (t=.011**), protein (t=.000**), folic acid (t=.011**), iron (t=.002**), zinc (t=.000**) in sample. It was seen that higher percentage of infertile women had less iron, zinc, folic acid, calories and protein. The intake of these nutrients was higher in fertile women.
From this study we can conclude that dietary patterns and nutrients intake may be important modifiable factors that can significantly show positive impact on women’s reproductive health.
Key words: Infertility, Non vegetarian foods, nuts consumption, calories, vitamin A, vitamin C, B12, folic acid, iron, zinc.