Green Options

This post was originally posted at Nature’s Child, the site for sassy & sage natural parenting advice. And don’t forget to enter the Summer Essentials Contest while you’re there!

We all know someone who was thrilled when they learned they were pregnant. Yes, because they were bringing life into this world. But also because they could finally “eat for two” and let their diet go.

All of us with sense know that this is a pregnancy myth. You can’t actually eat for two and expect to lose the baby weight anytime in the next decade.

The eating “extra” may not be the best choice for every pregnant woman.

Pregnancy is not a time to eat twice as much, but twice as well.

Women who are already obese when they become pregnant may not need to gain “baby weight” as long as they and their care provider focus on a healthy diet.

Several recent studies point to the possible origination of both obesity and diabetes in the womb.

An article in the LA Times last year had a quote from Beverly Muhlhausler, a researcher at the University of South Australia and an authority on fetal diet and adult disease:

“What research is now showing is that consuming an excessive amount of high-fat, high-sugar foods during pregnancy can alter the development of the baby in such a way that predisposes that individual to becoming obese later in life.”

If we continue to wait until middle age to treat societal health issues like obesity and diabetes, we may not ever address the causes, which might already be treatable by changing the mother’s diet or addressing maternal weight gain.