Underreporting of energy intake is less common among pregnant women in Indonesia.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the ratio of reported energy intake to basal metabolic rate (EI/BMR) among pregnant Indonesian women, as well as identifying risk factors for being an underreporter. DESIGN Longitudinal study of dietary intake, using six repeated 24-hour diet recalls each trimester. Basal metabolic rate was estimated from body weight and physical activity from occupation. The lower 95% confidence interval for plausible EI/BMR was calculated and the proportion of underreporters estimated. Risk factors for being an underreporter were assessed in multivariate logistic regression analyses. SETTING Purworejo District, central Java, Indonesia. SUBJECTS Pregnant women RESULTS For the three trimesters, EI/BMR ratio was and (mean+/-standard deviation), respectively. The proportion of underreporters was 29.7%, 16.2% and 17.6%. Characteristics significantly associated with underreporting in at least one trimester included high body mass index and low education. CONCLUSIONS Levels of underreporting were low among the pregnant Indonesian women during the second and third trimesters. The low EI/BMR ratio during the first trimester likely reflects a true low intake due to nausea, rather than underreporting. Risk factors for being an underreporter included those known from developed countries, i.e. obesity and low education.