Mom's diet may make for fat babies

A new study from the Journal of Neuroscience found that what you eat while pregnant can result in overeating and obesity in the child. The study was done on rats, however, it does seem to make sense that exposure to a high-fat diet in utero can lead to changes in brain development in the fetus, which create an appetite for fat. The offspring from those fed the high fat diet ate more throughout life, began puberty earlier (a common issue with overweight children as well) and weighed more as compared to those offspring from animals fed a balanced diet.
Bottomline eating a balanced, healthy diet during pregnancy offers advantages to you and your children:

• it will help you gain the right amount of weight so taking it off post-pregnancy is easier
• it helps to keep your child's weight down and him healthy throughout his life

While I would be the last person to tell you not to enjoy a some indulgences during pregnancy - chocolate was part of my diet everyday for all of my pregnancies - just make sure you balance it out with lots of nutritious fruits, veggies and whole grains.

Does a junky diet in pregnancy mean permanent damage for baby?

According to headlines in Forbes, Science Daily and several other publications on Monday and Tuesday, a new study from the UK came out that showed a diet full of junk food while pregnant can lead to irreversible, long-term health consequences to the child, such as obesity or high cholesterol and blood sugar into adolescence and even adulthood. So, if you're a pregnant woman who's been overindulging in chips and donuts lately, the guilt may be piling on. I'm here to tell you to relax and stop panicking -- headlines can be misleading. First of all, the study was done in rats, so the results may or may not hold true in humans. Secondly, you can absolutely start eating a better diet today --don't worry about what you've done up til now. Commit to eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables each day and making your bread/pasta selections whole grain. These filling foods leave little room for junk. Lastly, even the researchers comment that whether a mom ate poorly or not during pregnancy, a person needs to take responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle -- these health conditions are not inevitable and can be altered by making good diet and exercise choices throughout life.
So, as a dietitian I encourage you to eat a well-rounded, nutritious diet most of the time - allow yourself small treats here and there - and keep exercising (with your doctor's okay) during pregnancy, because it's good for you and for your baby. I didn't really need a study in rats to tell me that!

Gain the right amount for your baby's sake

Not only does gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy lead to better health outcomes (eg. less chance of C-section, reduced risk of gestational diabetes, healthier birth weight of the baby, etc) and a higher likelihood that you'll get back in your skinny jeans, but new research suggests that it's important to your child's future weight, too. A recent study from the University of Pennsylvania on over 10,000 women showed that gaining more than the recommended amounts during pregnancy (25-35 pounds for normal wt, 15-25 pounds if overweight) can increase the child's chances of becoming overweight in the future. They followed the children until the age of 7 and found that for every 2 pounds over the recommended guidelines that the mom gained, the odds of the child becoming overweight increased by 3%. The scientists speculate that excess weight during pregnancy can trigger certain physical processes like high blood sugar levels causing overproduction of insulin in the baby while in the womb. To gain within the guidelines, remember that you don't need to eat for two -- just have about 300-400 calories more than you normally eat during the second and third trimesters. This is equal to a PB&J or a yogurt and a banana. With your doctor's okay, either continue to or start exercising -- walking is a great option for beginners or even those who are already fit. Pregnancy is the perfect time to focus on eating right and exercising -- it will keep you and your baby on the longterm road to good health.

Not eating for Two

Pregnancy for many means, "yippee, I can eat what I want." For the sake of our waistlines, we need to change this thinking. Did you know that many women keep as much as 11 pounds from each pregnancy and some even more? I teach a prenatal nutrition class and I love the expressions I get when I tell everyone that in the first trimester you do not need any extra calories, you just need to make sure and eat really, really healthy** and take your prenatal vitamins. I also enjoy the looks of disbelief when I let the women know that in the second trimester they only need about 300-340 more calories. This is equivalent to about a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with 1/2 cup skim milk and an ounce of almonds. In the last trimester, the number jumps to an extra 450 calories total -- so, add a piece of whole wheat toast and jelly to your bowl of cereal and almonds and you are now at 450 calories. By making sure you eat healthy** during your pregnancy, you can set yourself up for easier weight loss after you have your bundle of joy.
**healthy defined -- to learn more about how many servings of foods from each food group you should be eating during your pregnancy, go to mypyramid.com and enter your information.

Can how much you eat influence your baby's gender?

A new study came out this week that's been getting buzz all over the internet, papers, magazines, and tv. The study from the UK found that women who ate breakfast and a higher quality diet with more vitamins and minerals were more likely to conceive boys than those who skipped the most-important-meal-of-the-day. They also ate more calories overall prior to conceiving - 2413 for boy mamas vs 2283 for girl mamas. (The boy moms were more likely to be exercising to use up the excess calories because there were no differences in weight or body size between the groups.) Of the 740 British women in the study, about 56% of the women in the highest third for calorie intake had boys versus about 45% of the women in the lowest third for calorie intake. Some researchers say that this makes sense as boys are more likely to be conceived in times of plenty because it takes more calories and nutrients to support the male embryo.
When I read these articles, I seriously thought it might be April 1st and it was all a big joke -- I mean it's the male sperm that determines the gender so why would the mom's diet make a difference? (After looking it up on the National Institutes of Health, it turns out the study is real and was just published.) But, maybe the mom's diet plays a role in which sperm gets to nab the coveted egg. Thinking about my own experience, I have 2 boys and know that I always eat breakfast and exercise regularly, so could it be true? Does this theory hold up for your experience?
Before you jump on the bandwagon and start eating more or less in the hopes of choosing the gender you want (if you're trying to conceive), there are definitely a few flaws I can see in the theory: 1) In developed countries, like the UK and US, there's always plenty -- in fact most of us eat too much -- so it would make sense that there should be more boys than girls, but that's not the case 2) the researchers site that women on diets are the reason for the trend that girl births outnumber boys in the last 40 years, yet calorie intake has increased for everyone (2283 calories for the moms of girl babies is more than anyone was eating 30 or 40 years ago -- doesn't seem like they were dieting. Calorie intake has been steadily increasing over time - women eat about 350 more calories per day on average than they did in 1970).
The bottomline is that more research is needed to confirm whether a mom's pre-conception diet can influence her baby's gender. The one thing we know for sure is adequate nutrition before and during pregnancy does increase the odds of having a well baby, regardless of the gender. So, eat breakfast and a balanced diet since a happy, healthy bundle of joy is the most important outcome of all.

Trouble getting pregnant may be related to diet

A new book called "The Fertility Diet" has some interesting insight into the potential link between what a woman eats and her ease with getting pregnant. I would normally think something with this title could be folklore, however, the diet is based on research from the Harvard School of Public Health and the book is written by the study authors. They're on the Dec 10th cover of Newsweek along with an article summarizing the data. The researchers looked at over 18,000 women that are part of the ongoing Nurse's Health Study, which is a huge, long-term research project assessing the effects of diet on a number of diseases. They found that women who readily got pregnant ate a diet with lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, and plant proteins and ate less trans fats and animal protein. The women who had fertility and ovulation issues were eating nearly the opposite. Interestingly, they also found that consuming whole milk foods - ice cream, cheeses, full fat yogurt -was beneficial for fertility. The book also mentions exercise and maintaining a healthy weight as key lifestyle factors in promoting fertility.

Bottomline: The book gets the green light for overall soundness and balance. The Fertility Diet promotes a healthy diet rich in the foods you should eat the most - whole grains, fruits, vegetables - and those you should eat the least - fatty meats, baked goods, and processed snack foods. While having full fat dairy is more controversial since it is high in saturated fat, dairy overall is rich in calcium and other nutrients your body needs. Just stick to 1-2 appropriate portions per day if the dairy is full fat: 1/2 cup ice cream, 1 oz cheese, 1 cup yogurt. If you've been trying to get pregnant and are having trouble, paying attention to your diet and making healthier choices is certainly a step in the right direction.

Don't Supersize Me!

We need to change "value for money" from size and amount of food to nutrition value of food -- this needs to be our new thinking. As restaurants "super size" their food, we "super size" our bodies. Make sure you know what constitutes a serving and stick to it -- portion distortion is real and it affects all of us. Most people to do not realize that their bottle of soda contains 2.5 servings (8 oz is a serving for most beverages, but 4 oz is a serving of 100% juice). Read the nutrition label and look at the serving size, you will start to notice that packages that appear to be a single serving actually contain several servings. Repeat after me, "it is OK to leave food on my plate, in the bag, in the wrapper and not drink the full bottle or glass." Save the leftovers for tomorrow or when you are thirsty later in the day. Also, teach your kids what a serving of food really looks like. Here are some helpful hints from the book, The Portion Teller --
— 3 ounces of meat = 1 deck of cards
— 1 cup of cereal = a baseball
— 2 tablespoons salad dressing = a small shot glass
— ¼ cup nuts = a golf ball
Source: The Portion Teller Plan: The No-Diet Reality Guide to Eating, Cheating, and Losing Weight Permanently -- check out this book for more information. I saw the author speak, she is very visual with her examples and provides compelling information concerning how our food portions have changed. Also, a recent report on MSNBC reveals how many restaurants are serving crazy portions of food, one example are sandwiches from Hardee's, Wendy's and Burger King that include two days worth of meat (click here to read the MSNBC article).

Hot topic: DHA

New moms and moms-to-be, there's great news! Foods with DHA are here and even more are coming. DHA is the omega-3 fatty acid that's crucially important for a developing baby. The most important time for baby to get it is in the womb - 2nd and 3rd trimesters - and in the first few years of life. The reason it's so important is that it promotes visual and brain development for the growing baby. Studies show higher IQs and vision scores in babies that get more DHA - it's the reason so many formulas are now fortified with DHA. The typical U.S. diet is pretty low in DHA since it comes from fish and most Americans just don't eat that much of it. So moms need to either take supplements when expecting and nursing or to eat foods rich in DHA.
As we already talked about in the past several postings, we attended a nutrition conference where we got a sneak preview of the latest up-and-coming foods to hit the marketplace. Well, DHA was everywhere. This is great news for those who don't like to eat fish or limit intake for other reasons (mercury can be a concern, however a new study did show that the benefits from eating fish in terms of baby's development far outweight any risks from excessive mercury, so you're better off eating it than not eating it).
Here are just some of the foods you should see or be seeing soon in your grocery store with DHA added: Horizon organic milk fortified plus DHA; Yoplait kids yogurt; Silk plus omega 3 DHA; Bellybar nutrition bars, shakes and chews; Oh Mama! nutrition bars. They're all made with a DHA called life'sDHA that comes from algae, so it's vegetarian. YoBaby Plus whole milk yogurt with cereal also has a version with DHA. That one is from purified fish oil.
I wish they had all these choices when I was pregnant and nursing. I did take DHA supplements (Expecta) and eat fish as often as I could but so many more choices would've helped. I am glad my toddler and preschooler can benefit from the new yogurts and milks.
Bottomline: If you're pregnant or nursing eat foods rich in DHA: fish, supplements or fortified foods. You need about 300 mg per day. For toddlers on up, make sure they eat or drink foods with DHA as well. There is currently no recommendation for the amount of DHA a child should have (some say 17 mg/100 calories, which is the amount in formula) but about 200-300 mg per day would be the ballpark.

Pregnancy diet impacts baby's heart health, too

On the heels of the study showing that eating too much junk during pregnancy may make a difference in the baby becoming a junk-food junkie too, is a study looking at how diet during pregnancy impacts the baby's heart health into adulthood. The research is just getting underway, but the lead author suspects that it will show that not only does the mom's diet affect the baby's long term heart health, but the heart health of her grandchildren as well. Wow, that's a lot of responsibility! Bottom line: eat your fruits and veggies during pregnancy, future generations are counting on you.

Eating Junk Food During Pregnancy - Bad Idea

A study just published shows a link between what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding and your child's future eating habits. "Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promote an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring," says lead author Dr Stéphanie Bayol. "This could send offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging." Now, this study is interesting but it used rats so the results would need to be verified in humans. Click here for the report.

Too much weight during pregnancy = more weight 15 years later

Well, it seems that all women tend to gain weight over time, but those who gain too much weight during pregnancy keep even more pounds on. A study out of Sweden showed that women who gained more than the recommended 25-35 pounds (healthy pre-pregnancy weight) or 15-25 pounds (overweight pre-pregnancy) had higher weights 15 years later than those who gained either the recommended amount or less. On average they weighed 22 pounds more than they did prior to pregnancy even 15 years later; those who gained the right amount during pregnancy still weighed about 15 pounds more 15 years later compared to pre-pregnancy weight.
It sounds bleak, but it doesn't have to be. During both of my pregnancies, I was concerned about gaining too much. So, I made a pretty big effort to eat close to the way I ate before I was pregnant. I would have an extra snack or two when I got hungry, but stuck to lowfat yogurt, nuts or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I also made sure to keep exercising, at a bit lower intensity. I gained about 20 pounds during each pregnancy and took it off within a month of giving birth. My boys were both a healthy 7 pounds 10 oz so for me it was the right amount to gain. I'm a big proponent of keeping the weight gain closer to the lower end of the range as much as you can. The key is to continue eating a good diet, exercising and listening to your body. Those are my tips. What worked for you?

Post-partum depression linked to nutrition

A researcher at the University of Calgary is studying a possible link between nutrition and postpartum depression. Having analyzed the diets of pregnant and postpartum women over the years, I completely agree that there must be a link. Of the women I have counseled, several have nutrient deficiencies and then they get pregnant and these deficiencies only get worse based on how the women feel during their pregnancy. In 2005 the USDA reported that many Americans do not get enough vitamin E, calcium, potassium and fiber. Additionally, women of childbearing age may not be getting enough iron in their diets. All together, these deficiencies can cause all kinds of problems including affecting energy and mental well being. To help you get enough of these nutrients:
-- eat a handful of raw nuts a day,
-- include beans in one of your meals
-- and eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day (actually count how many you ate at the end of the day before dinner and make up for the number you are missing at dinner and afterwards). As for getting enough calcium, eat some yogurt -- you will not only benefit from the nutrients but bonus, you will get the healthy bacteria that is good for your digestive system. I personally look for the yogurt that does not have any high fructose corn syrup in the ingredient deck -- the jury is still out on how it affects the storage of fat in your body.

weight gain during pregnancy too high?

Saw an interesting article today that leads me to question the weight gain recommendations. The Harvard study looked at weight gain in women during pregnancy and the risk of the child becoming overweight. They found that women who gained the recommended amount of weight were four times more likely to have a child who was overweight at age 3, as women who gained less than the advised amount. The women who gained too much weight during pregnancy were also at a higher risk of having an overweight child.

Since really taking off the baby fat begins during pregnancy, I've always told pregnant women to make sure not to gain more than the recommended 25-35 pounds; or if overweight to begin with, 15-25 pounds. But this new study, calls into question whether those amounts should be lower, at least for the sake of keeping your baby at a healthy weight (and it would make taking off the baby fat easier post-delivery). One study is not the be all and end all, but it's worth considering.