Dietary Practice and Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Misha Woreda, South Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Table 4

Meal pattern of pregnant mothers in Misha woreda, 2019.

Variables	Category	Frequency	Percent
Additional meal consumed	Yes	228	36.9
	No	390	63.1
Number of extra meals within a day	Once	190	83.3
	Twice	38	16.7
Reason of not having an additional meal	Lack of information	113	28.9
	Poor economy	154	39.6
	Considered as adequate	123	31.5
Skipping meal	Yes	129	20.9
	No	489	79.1
Reason of meal skipping	Personal dislike	47	36.8
	Fear of obesity	45	35.1
	Poor economy	37	28.1
Fasting habits during pregnancy	Yes	48	7.8
	No	570	92.2
Food avoided during pregnancy	Yes	204	33.0
	No	414	67.0
Reason of food avoidance	Personal dislike/aversion	98	47.9
	Not allowed to pregnant women/cultural taboo	106	52.1
Reason of cultural beliefs/taboo	Will make baby big and labour difficulty	36	33.6
	Will be plastered on the fetal head	40	37.9
	Evil eye	30	28.5
Any food desired strongly (craving)	Yes	256	41.2
	No	363	58.8
Reason to crave for these food items	Colour of food	52	20.4
	Food odor	121	47.4
	I do not know the reason	83	32.2
Did you get the food you crave	Yes	170	66.4
	No	86	33.6
The reason of not getting craved food	Not affordable	25	28.7
	Not available	61	71.3