1. Pregnant women
Individual requirements for food
Diet - sufficient nutrients to cope with demands of: growing baby
There are nutrients which should be increased in pregnancy.
Foetus: receives nutrients from the mother blood stream, umbilical cord into
baby blood stream.
If a nutrient is in short supply - foetus receives nutrient - mothers health
affected.
for example:
• Lack of calcium - if calcium or vitamin D are deficient in diet -
calcium from mothers bones or /and teeth passes on to the fetus
weaken mothers bones (they can develop adult osteoporosis)
• Lack of vit A (retinol)- vit A stored in mothers liver- goes to
fetus. If serious, may result in night blindness , skin membranes
become dry and infected. Baby can develop deficiency after birth
go blind (if not corrected, in very poor countries).
• Lack of iron can lead to anemia in mother and failure to build up
iron storage in babys liver (mothers milk and cows milk are very
poor sources of iron)
So: during pregnancy we need:
Intake of : Vit D, calcium, iron, fibre (to prevent constipation)
same intake of energy during the first 3 months. Later we need to increase
a bit but not in form of CHO and FATS, may lead to obesity.
Normally pregnant women increase aprox. 4 kg of extra fat stores energy
for breastfeeding and other 8- 12 kg weigh of baby and liquids.
Avoid : smoking
Alcohol serious problems
Drugs