Daily HealthBeat Tip

Eating for two.

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

There can be a lot on the mind of a mother-to-be, and a new study indicates that what's on her mind can affect what she eats. A study supported by the National Institutes of Health looked into that. Researcher Laura Caulfield of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University, with her colleagues, studied more than 100 women with low-risk, normal pregnancies:

"Although stress was not associated per se with changes in diet in these women, anxiety and fatigue and feeling more hassled as opposed to uplifted by your pregnancy were associated with different dietary choices." (13 seconds)

So women who felt anxious and tired ate more bread and snack foods and less fruits and vegetables. Women who felt hassled ate less red meat.

Caulfield says pregnant women need to be sure they are getting a variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 20, 2005

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