The project aimed to validate a short questionnaire (CoCu pregnancy – Composition and Culture of Eating during pregnancy) and to investigate associations with age and socio-economic status (SES).

The questionnaire was developed according to the validated CoCu for children and adolescents containing a diet composition (fourteen items) and a culture of eating part (six items). A Nutritional Health Score (NHS) was calculated based on diet composition (–120 and +120, with higher scores indicating healthier diets). The validity was assessed by comparing answers in CoCu pregnancy with a FFQ. In a subsample (n 97), we assessed the percentage of having chosen the same (or adjacent) response categories in the 24th and 36th week of pregnancy (wp).

Data were collected within the LIFE Child study in Leipzig, Germany.

We evaluated 430 questionnaires of pregnant women (24th wp).

The results indicated a healthy diet in the present sample (NHS at 24th wp = 49·74 (95 % CI 47·27, 52·22)). The analyses revealed significant positive correlations between CoCu and FFQ (rho ranging from 0·32 to 0·61). For each food item, >90 % of women had chosen the same (50–60 %) or adjacent response categories in the 24th and 36th wp. The analysis revealed associations of the NHS with age (β = 0·11, P = 0·027), SES (β = 0·21, P < 0·001), snacking (β = –0·24, P < 0·001) and media use (β = –0·18, P < 0·001).

The questionnaire represents a useful tool for surveying the diets during pregnancy for research and clinical practice.