Mums who follow the old adage of “eating for two” while pregnant may be doing their unborn baby more harm than good, new research suggests.
While modern practice advises thinking of eating for two as choosing nutrient-rich food rather than merely doubling the amount eaten, new research shows mothers who overeat in pregnancy risk their offspring developing behavioural disorders and mental health conditions.
A group of scientists from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada collated more than a dozen different studies that investigated the impact a mum’s diet during pregnancy had on the future health of their child.
Research in the US discovered children of obese mums had IQ scores five points lower than kids whose mum was in the healthy weight range.
A Swedish study showed kids from obese mums were more likely to have attention deficit disorder.
An Australian study indicated the likelihood of a child developing an eating disorder increased by 11 per cent for each point their mum’s BMI went up during pregnancy.
The researchers believe the results could be due to hormonal and chemical changes caused by overeating.
What do you think? Do you think mums-to-be tend to overeat during pregnancy? Did you "eat for two" while pregnant?
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8 Comments
I'm 4mths preggers and I'm finding I feel hungry quite alot, I have been eating what i would normally eat before the pregnancy and now I'm finding I need to eat more so i don't feel so hungry, try to eat healthy alot of the time but sometimes it's hard to always eat the same old healthy thing all the time.
ReplyI am sure you now smart people out there with a the Latest research being done that you would take into account real people as my son I ate for two he is so smart and my daughter I listerned to nut jobs like you and well lets see low grades not a very great memory attention span less than a goldfish adhd anxitity attacks and to top it off my son I breast fed 4 days NO health problems my daughter 18 months goes to show all your fancy research means zero as all humans are different its DNA nothing new but I guess it helps to put food on the table for those eating for 2 3and 4
ReplyI am old enough to know that 'eating for two' was not an 'old adage' and meant to encourage Mothers to be to actually 'eat for 2'. Most pregnant women knew this was a ''no-no" not a 'go-go'. I'm tired of hearing of the 'latest discovery' and 'new research suggests' etc. Possibly these new researchers don't actually do any research into what had already been learnt.
Reply'..Canada collated more than a dozen different studies' - unbefuknlievable, considering there are more than a dozen billion alive, all born the same, dying the same. Get over it people, we'll all be dead soon.
ReplyOMG! theres a study for everything. No wonder so many people in this world are confused and disorientated. People were much better off in the good old days when common sense prevailed and studies were for things that might actually contribute to the world. If everyone stopped loking for escape routes for their behaviour and actually took some personal responsability for it, studies would be obsolete
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