GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT Good maternal nutrition is important for the health and reproductive performance of women and the health, survival, and development of their children. Malnutrition in women, including pregnant women, is not conspicuous and remains, to a large extent, uncounted and unreported; thus, insufficient attention has been given to the extent, causes, and consequences of malnutrition in women. As a result, inadequate resources and efforts have been allocated to improving women's nutrition compared with other nutritional and public health actions. The limited available data and the few experiences with programs that do exist come mostly from small-scale efforts to improve nutrition during pregnancy, often through nutritional supplementation to enhance fetal growth and birth weight. In developing countries such as Nigeria, it is paramount to state that low birth weight stems primarily from the mother’s poor health and nutrition, and inadequate nutrition during pregnancy accounts for a large proportion of growth retardation Key words: Good Maternal Nutrition, Health, Malnutrition in Women