Air Date: Thursday, October 25, 2007
Pregnant food pyramid
The food pyramid has served as a nutritional guideline for years. Today, the USDA is putting a new spin on it, revealing a brand new nutritional guide just for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Knowing what foods to eat and how much weight to gain during pregnancy can get confusing.
"I think that a lot of women don't know what to do, and we tend to as providers send them out with the information that you should gain x amount of weight during pregnancy, but we don't actually give people the tools to do that," said obstetrician gynecologist Dr. Laura Riley.
Today the USDA is changing that, launching a brand new food guide pyramid just for pregnant and nursing women on the website www.mypyramid.gov.
Dr. Riley hopes the website will be a helpful resource for women.
"A lot of women are not going to have the resources to go see a nutritionist for an hour and sit down and review their diet," Dr. Riley said. "So this is a way of getting information outside of your doctors office or providers office and a way that you can do it on your own time."
All women have to do is type in their age, due date, height and weight to get their very own personalized nutrition plan.
"Mypyramid for moms is really going to provide some great advice for mothers during this period when they're so interested not only in their own nutrition, but obviously the nutrition for the health of their child," said Charles Conner, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture.
Experts warn all pregnant and breastfeeding women should see a doctor first. They can use this plan in conjunction with the recommendations made by their ob/gyn.
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