Pregnant women often say they are ‘eating for two’.
But Australian health experts have warned women overeating during pregnancy could put their unborn babies at risk of disease.
Babies born to mothers who overindulged during pregnancy were more likely to develop illnesses such as asthma, food allergies and type 2 diabetes.
Expectant mothers should ensure they are eating the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables to give their offspring the healthiest start to life.
Health experts warned the food expectant mothers eat could put the lives of their unborn babies at risk of disease (stock image)
Eating for two should not be an excuse to fill up on any food as Sydney neonatologist Dr Adrienne Gordon said pregnant women should avoid overeating on calories.
‘It’s important to know that the extra calories you need are actually not very much,’ she told 7News.
‘It’s not eating for two.’
Experts said women needed to develop healthy patterns of eating after it was revealed one million Australians have type 2 diabetes and the number of children suffering from asthma and food allergies were increasing.
The new guidelines suggest mothers-to-be should eat two pieces of fruits and at least two and a half cups of green and orange vegetables daily.
To ensure women are leading a healthy lifestyle, they are advised to avoid white bread and sugary foods such as cakes and soft drinks.
Early Life Nutrition Coalition’s Melanie McGrice said giving children the healthiest start to life begins before they are even born.
‘If ever there is a time for someone to eat healthy it is in the lead up to conception and throughout during pregnancy,’ she said.
‘It just makes such a difference it’s worth prioritising everything else,’ she said.
Babies born to mothers who overindulged during pregnancy were more likely to develop illnesses such as asthma, food allergies and type 2 diabetes (stock image)
This comes as an Australia research, led by Dr Gordon will examine the impact of mothers’ diet, body weight, stress and smoking during the first 1000 days of a child after conception.
‘Obesity is one of the most serious global health crises of the 21st century and the greatest rise is among women of reproductive age,’ Dr Gordon said.
A growing body of evidence links a mother’s poor diet during pregnancy to long-term health problems in children.
A report by researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) found health disadvantage can be passed down through the generations at a cellular level.
Expectant mothers should ensure they are eating the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables to give their offspring the healthiest start to life (stock image)
The research review showed a child’s development is significantly affected by the biological and physical environments they occupy during the first 1000 days of life.
Dr Tim Moore, a senior research fellow at the MCRI, said the new evidence was both ‘astonishing and scary’.
‘The first thousand days is a period of maximum developmental plasticity, that means it’s the period during which as an organism we are most susceptible to change by environmental experiences, and those changes can have lifelong consequences,’ Dr Moore said.
For more information on the BABY1000 study contact cpc.baby1000@sydney.edu.au.