Dieters Gain More Weight During Pregnancy
Interesting new study from the University of North Carolina.
This is of concern, not only because surplus weight means there’s more to lose afterwards, but also because it can increase the risk of complications.
Even women who succeed in controlling their weight before pregnancy tend to gain too much weight while they’re carrying a child, say Anna Maria Siega-Riz, PhD, RD, and colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“When they are not pregnant, many women are really trying to hold their weight down. But when they become pregnant the message they get is ‘Eat for two; give in to your cravings,'” Siega-Riz tells WebMD.
The UNC researchers asked 1,223 women who had just become pregnant about their previous dietary habits. About half the women had restrained their eating habits in some way. They simply cut back on what they ate, followed specific diet plans, and/or cycled between gaining and losing weight.
Regardless of how they did it, all normal-weight, overweight, or obese women who had tried to restrict their diets gained more weight during pregnancy than did women who did not diet before pregnancy.
As noted in the linked article, “eating for two” does not require that many extra calories.
- Extra daily calories needed during the first trimester: 0
Extra daily calories needed during the second trimester: 340
Extra daily calories needed during the third trimester: 450
That’s not a lot. It’s important to eat well during pregnancy, but a couple of small snacks and/or a few extra bites in each meal towards the middle/end are all that’s really needed.
