DIET 



OF EXPECTANT 

 MOTHERS 



not Up to par 



GOOD nutrition is more essential 

 and nutritional deficiencies are 

 more serious in times of physiolo- 

 gic stress. Pregnancy is a period of 

 special interest because the mother 

 must now place more emphasis on 

 the high quality of her diet in order 

 to have the proper building mater- 

 ials for the growth of her child. 



The methods followed to study 

 the nutritional status of expectant 

 mothers and its relationship to the 

 health of the mother and child in- 

 volve dietary studies, biochemical 

 analyses of blood and urine, and 

 medical examinations of both moth- 

 er and child. Although this study 

 has not yet been completed, several 

 interesting facts have already be- 

 come evident in the course of the 

 work. 



Amounts of nutrients received by mothers, according 

 to the Recommended Daily Allowances. 



26 low 



15 70 Z5 55" 



SB 60^ and more of recommended allovances 

 PW 65 to 79^1 of recommended allowance* 

 f**l 645( and lets of racommended allowances 



ANNE WERTZ * 



Just what an individual eats, and 

 how much, is not easily determined. 

 If the food intake of a homemaker 

 is obtained by an interview between 

 the homemaker and a dietitian, the 

 homemaker usually overestimates 

 the amount of food that she eats in 

 comparison with an actual record of 

 the food eaten. Since the daily 

 amount of nutrients consumed by 

 an individual varies, the food re- 

 cords must be kept for several days 

 to obtain a more accurate picture 

 of the food intake. 



Many Diets Low 



Dietary habits of 75 expectant 

 mothers have been studied at least 

 for two, and usually for three, seven- 

 day periods. The allowances for 

 nutrients by the National Research 

 Council as ideal levels at which to 

 aim should not be interpreted to 

 mean that failure to attain these 

 levels indicates a state of malnutri- 

 tion. These allowances were arbi- 

 trarily divided into three groups 

 merely for the purpose of compari- 

 son and do not represent a definite 

 standard. Only one woman of the 

 75 studied consumed a diet that 

 contained the recommended amount 

 of nutrients for women in the latter 

 half of pregnancy. Two other wo- 

 men met the recommended daily 

 allowance in all nutrients except 

 calcium. Many of the diets were 

 low in several of the eight nutrients 



ii Research Professor, Home Economics. 



