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Pakistan Maternal Nutrition Strategy 2022-27

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Govt. Pakistan
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Chapter 1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Maternal nutrition

Maternal nutrition is defined as the nutritional needs of women before pregnancy (during the ‘preconception’ period), during pregnancy and during the postpartum period. It extends as early as adolescence in contexts where early childbearing occurs. While maternal nutrition is associated with women’s reproductive potential, it should be addressed as part of a life course approach within the larger context of women’s health and nutrition during all of the stages of their lives. This approach highlights the importance of reaching women during adolescence and young adulthood to achieve healthy lifestyles before conception, as well as during pregnancy and the postpartum period throughout their reproductive years. There is a growing movement to ensure that the lifecycle approach also reaches women of reproductive age (WRA) – that is, women from 15 to 49 years old – who are not pregnant or lactating (NPNL), women of reproductive age who do not have young children, and older women. Reaching these groups remains a gap in current programming approaches.

Women have increased nutritional requirements across their lifecycle, during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and lactation. As a result, they are vulnerable to malnutrition. Adolescent girls have increased needs for energy, protein and micronutrients due to physical growth and development, alongside greater needs for iron due to menstruation. During pregnancy, increased nutrients are needed to maintain maternal metabolisms and tissue accretion, while supporting foetal growth and development. Lactation is a demanding state for breastfeeding mothers, involving a greater nutritive burden than pregnancy with increased energy, protein and micronutrient requirements.