Women's Nutrition Information Seeking and Media Use: Exploring the Predictors of Nutrition Beliefs and Eating Behaviors During Pregnancy

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: Of late, pregnant women’s weight and diet have been subjected to greater scrutiny due to their connection with obesity rates and obesity related diseases (Institute of Medicine, 2009). Health providers also promote health behaviors during pregnancy such as taking prenatal vitamins, increasing folic acid intake, and limiting caffeine. Women are exposed to various media and interpersonal sources on maternal nutrition; therefore, what they think and do may depart from prescribed medical advice. At a time when new forms of communication are supplementing traditional forms, women's health information seeking deserves attention. Pew Internet Study (2008) indicated that over 70% of women seek health information and 20% of participants search specifically for pregnancy information online. In Bernhardt and Felter’s (2004) focus group study, pregnant women reported high information seeking and relied primarily upon search engines, parenting and commercial information websites. According to Media Complementarity Theory, media do not necessarily replace or compete with one another as much as they supplement and complement each other. Tian and Robinson (2008) found that cancer information seekers employed a combination of traditional media, new media, and interpersonal sources.  

1. From what sources do women seek information about nutrition during pregnancy?
2. How does their information seeking behavior relate to their nutrition beliefs and eating behaviors during pregnancy?
3. What is the relationship between their media use, media literacy, and nutrition knowledge?

Methods:  An online survey was completed by 218 pregnant women.

Results:  Websites were the most frequently consulted sources, followed by books and providers. The least frequently consulted sources were television, coworkers or other family members. When it comes to reliance on information received, providers and baby's father ranked the highest, followed by books, mothers, websites, and friends. Eating more vegetables was predicted by frequency of consulting and relying on book and providers. Relying on book and friends predicted taking prenatal vitamins. Higher consultation of magazines and reliance on friends, along with lower consultation of books and reliance on baby's father, predicted believing that one can eat what one wants during pregnancy. Using websites more often predicted thinking that fast food could be a part of a nutritious diet. Eating out at fast food restaurants more often was predicted by lower use of magazines, providers, fathers and friends as sources of nutrition information, as well as lower reliance on provider and celebrity sources.

Conclusions:  Websites are convenient sources and easily accessible many times a day but information seekers must be prudent about the information gained. Interpersonal sources remain  important providers of informational support; however, all sources may not possess adequate knowledge on nutrition. Traditional media, such as pregnancy books, seem to be adequately assisting women in making nutrition decisions during pregnancy.

Implications for research and/or practice: Support is shown for media complementarity theory. Women want and require guidance from qualified professionals on finding reliable information and interpreting the information received. Providers cannot assume that patients are listening to them over other sources or that patients clearly understand the messages received. Research examining the nuances of messages and the ways in which women interpret them is warranted.