Abstract:
Background: Taste and smell changes are found to be very common at the early stage of
pregnancy and gradually reduced at the late pregnancy. Physiological and hormonal changes
may lead to these changes. Taste and smell changes influence on dietary practices in
pregnancy affecting nutritional status of pregnant women and consequently on maternal and
fetal health.
Objectives: To identify the changes in taste and smell and its association with dietary practices
among pregnant mothers attending the antenatal clinic in Teaching Hospital, Mahamodara
(THM)
Methods: This study was a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study with 320 pregnant
mothers of less than 20 weeks of gestation who attended antenatal clinics in THM. The data
were collected using a pre-tested, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed
using SPSS version 25.0. Chi-square test was used to identify the associations.
Results: Taste and smell changes were reported among 76.9% and 87.8% mothers
respectively. Eleven food categories associated with taste and smell changes were identified.
Mostly reported taste change was observed for sweets (53.8%) followed by short-eats (42.2%),
beverages (41.9%) and consumption of these food had increased. Mostly reported smell
change was observed for fish (52.8%) followed by fruit juice (44.1%) and rice (42.5%) and
their consumption had decreased. There was a significant association of consumption of dairy
products, sweets, fruit juice, vegetables, green leaves, short-eats, starchy foods, animal food
with the taste and smell changes (p <0.05). There was no statistically significant association
between taste changes and intake of fruits (p = 0.18) and smell changes and intake of
beverages and grains (p >0.05).
Conclusions: The taste and smell changes were observed among majority of the pregnant
mothers attending to antenatal clinics at THM. It was significantly associated with dietary
practices which need to be taken into consideration to meet their daily nutritional requirements.
