A study was conducted to assess the effect of nutrition knowledge and attitude towards the importance of nutrition in prenatal health care on the dietary practices of 100 pregnant women in southeastern and southwestern Virginia. Women were of both high and low socioeconomic status. To assess knowledge and attitude, a questionnaire was developed. Validity and reliability were established for both the attitude and knowledge tests of the questionnaire. Dietary assessment was done by using a 24-hour recall and a diet history. Ratings for three different measures of dietary practice were determined.

Knowledge of nutrition had a greater correlation with all measures of dietary practice than did attitude. As would be imagined, the interaction of knowledge and attitude with dietary practices had a higher correlation with dietary practices than did either knowledge or attitude alone. Socioeconomic status was positively correlated with adequacy of dietary practices, knowledge of nutrition and attitude toward the importance of nutrition as a component of prenatal health care.