Many women gain more than the recommended amount of weight while they are pregnant. Ensuring that your diet and amount of exercise are healthy for you and your baby can help not only lead to a normal weight gain, but can reduce the risk of various other health risks.
Your baby's birth weight is influenced by the weight you gain during pregnancy. Low birth weight babies are at greater risk for developmental difficulties and illness. Women who gain a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy have fewer problems than those who gain too little or too much.
Food cravings and aversions to certain foods are common during pregnancy. There is no evidence that food cravings are the result of nutrient deficiencies, and their cause remains a mystery. There is no harm in satisfying food cravings within reason, especially when they make a nutritional contribution to the diet.
Some pregnant women have the urge to eat non food items such as laundry starch and dirt. In some cases cravings involve consumption of large amounts of non food items that displace food and interfere with adequate nutrient intake. You are encouraged not to eat non food items and to discuss any non-food cravings with your health care provider.
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