Pregnant women fail to adopt healthy eating plans
Pregnant women are not eating enough fruit and vegetables and gaining too much weight, new research has found.The research, published in the Nutrition and Dietetics journal, reveals that mothers-to-be are eating less than half the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables, Medical News Today reports.
At least one in three were also found to be putting on more than the recommended weight gain for pregnancy.
Researcher Shelley Wilkinson told the news provider: "Many of the pregnant women in our study had poor diets, placing them at a higher risk of unhealthy weight gain, high blood pressure and anaemia during pregnancy."
Poor diet during pregnancy has been linked to lower birth weight and an increased risk of chronic disease in newborn babies, added Dr Wilkinson.
Expectant mothers are advised to eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, wholegrain breads and cereals and reduced-fat dairy foods in order to provide themselves and their baby with essential nutrients, states the Medical News Today.
