Take precautions: Eating for two 'harms the health of mum and baby'

Consuming sugary foods may disrupt crucial processes leading to heart disease and diabetes

Pregnant women who eat for two are storing up major health problems for themselves and their babies, researchers claim. They have discovered how sugary foods eaten during pregnancy may permanently disrupt crucial processes in the mother and child, reported Daily Mail.

These changes put the women and their babies at far higher risk of illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes in the future. Women who are obese during pregnancy and their babies are known to be at far higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes later in life.



The researchers think the harm caused by sugary and fatty foods consumed during pregnancy may partly explain why. Women are being increasingly warned not to gain too much weight as it raises the risk of miscarriages, high blood pressure or complex births.

Health watchdog NICE says women only need to consume more food in the final three months of pregnancy. Even then they should have a maximum daily surplus of 200 calories – equivalent to a full-fat latte or two breakfast biscuits.

Dr Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri, a Cambridge University researcher, claimed excessive sugar and fat were changing vital processes in the mother and baby. Sferruzzi-Perri – whose study is published in the Journal of Physiology – also explained there was no need for pregnant women to eat extra calories as they adjusted their metabolism to ensure the foetus got an adequate supply of nutrients.



She said the changes altered the 'metabolic memory' of the mother and possibly the unborn baby. Meanwhile, official statistics suggest that almost half of pregnant British women are obese or overweight. Data from NHS Digital in 2016 found that 19% of women attending their first appointment with a midwife or GP were obese, and another 26 % overweight.

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