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'Eating for two' is a myth

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Pregnant women do not need to ‘eat for two' according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

Speaking to Today presenter John Humphrys, Nice public health director Professor Mike Kelly said that the only extra nutrition a pregnant mother needed was "two pieces of toast and a milky drink" in the last three months of pregnancy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8862000/8862364.stm

What do you think?

Did your appetite increase during pregnancy? Did you manage to eat healthily?

Is this scare-mongering?  Did you crave any strange and new foods?

comments

(48)

  • I Just eat all i feel like eating . which probably aint a very good thing :S

    by LilyMamma12 19 January 2012

  • since being pregnant i have found that i have gone off food instead of wanting more, you do not need to feed for a whole other person, i was told in my health and social lesson that you need around an extra 500 calories or a equivalant to a glass of milk per day. xx

    by jodie__ 11 January 2012

  • At first i was always soo hungry waking up in the middle of the night to grab food but now im not as hungry as before xx

    by sindyb 21 December 2011

  • Its hard not to eat for two when your always so hungry lol!!

    by PhoebeT 24 November 2011

  • I don't thonk you should eat for two whilst you are pregnant but i have to admit I get so hungry now I'm pregnant I feel like I am eating for two half the time! x

    by NicoleLepage 16 November 2011

  • i never had any room to eat for 2 i was forced into bedrest at 22weeks so it was difficult to keep the weight off but i could never eat loads but i still put on loads of weigh i think alot of pregnancy weight gain is down to genetics and bad luck

    by STEPHANIEZKM 14 November 2011

  • I insist on eating healthily through out my pregnancy! I do not want to gain to much extra weight whilst I am pregnant because I want to get back to being thin asap after I have given birth!! x

    by lulumummytob 26 October 2011

  • i still eat for 2 even after having lo

    by NatalieBjork 23 October 2011

  • i never eat for two when i was pregnant i think it depends on the mum

    by Manda2910 18 October 2011

  • The clue's in the name. He's never been pregnant... he has noooo idea! I'm starving constantly >.<

    by LilynCrumb 16 October 2011

  • atm im hard to satisfy im never full :L x

    by Chloe_x_X_x 12 October 2011

  • Im hungry all the time, sometimes feel like my bellies buttomless haha n i do have cravings.. atm its cheese , skittles n apples :P x

    by Mazmum2b 11 October 2011

  • i Am more hungry during pregnancy but i dont think u have to go over the top and eat for 2

    by janie1991 8 September 2011

  • if anythig i havent been pigging out as much ive been eating properly 3 meals a day and 2 snacks :)

    by BABA-123 14 August 2011

  • but i guess you can't help your cravings lol pregnancy hormones is uncontrollable

    by fruity1992 5 August 2011

  • im more hungry but dont like what im eatting half the time.. & im always craving sweet stuff

    by MrsNay 2 August 2011

  • i eat alot more than i used to before i was pregnant, im just always bloody hungry now!! so i wonder how this is a "myth"

    by 31 July 2011

  • Ever since i got pregnant, i love food and eat so much more of it!

    by ScarLust 30 July 2011

  • i found im eating more but not putting on the weight

    by mammatobe 15 July 2011

  • My appetite has increased but sometimes i do overdo it abit

    by NatalieBjork 20 June 2011

  • i cant stop eating , i could be eating for england x

    by Wigan-Milf 26 May 2011

  • I went off food at the beginning due to sickness, couldnt keep anything down but now i eat and eat and eat, altho i dont binge on unhealthy food, i snack out on appels, celery sticks mainly fruit and veg! I dont feel bad in doing so cause know im giving my baby goodness :) x

    by JoeyHaywood 26 May 2011

  • I would get hungry have somthing then get full about 5-10 minutes later i will be hungry again.

    by bbandbaby 2 April 2011

  • I have been having early cravings for onions but i usually hate onions. i don't think u should eaat loads of food all in one go but u should eat little and often. it helps me a lot. xx

    by Caitlin1 27 February 2011

  • Its weird because I will a plate of something, get full from it and 15 minuets later I will feel like I need to eat more, it's like I don't get full for as long as I used to. No weird cravings though

    by missP 26 February 2011

  • some days i feel hungry but other times i can barely eat a little pizza can someone help mee ?

    by 16 February 2011

  • i find im not hungry and some days force myself to eat but its getting better now xx

    by Rihannah 7 February 2011

  • I had hilarious cravings for Tomato Ketchup... i even had it on my salad.

    by Password 6 November 2010

  • I hardly ate to start off with it would just come back up But now i cant stop! x

    by chloe 28 October 2010

  • i ate for england when i was pregnant, regret it now tho as i put lots of weight on x

    by melissah1 18 October 2010

  • even though i used to eat quiet abit before i found out im pregnant, i still eat alot now but i seem to be getting hungry alot quicker than before, but when i eat dinner or meals i only seem to eat a little bit of it but then i will be straving again after about half hour and just eat anything i can get my hands on x

    by catherine93 17 October 2010

  • I Found Im More Hungry

    by Charlayy 17 October 2010

  • im sooo addicted 2 fruits

    by nilly 8 October 2010

  • Towards the end of my pregnancy i seemed to eat more, but i tried to eat healthly but with a craving of mars bars it just didnt work xx

    by Roxanne 26 September 2010

  • i do eat for to which is really silly but i can't help it :D Im constanly hungrey x

    by Rachiii 19 September 2010

  • I eat healthy but i'm constantly hungry i try and drink more instead of eat loads as sometime when you think your hungry its normally because your thirsty or thats what i got told x

    by Bertsnarffel 13 September 2010

  • i seem to eat loads moreeee :) and i drink so much milk and i never used to like itt lol x

    by ChanTella 9 September 2010

  • i seem to be jus constantly eating, and cant stop drinking milk when i didnt even like it beforee ?? lolx

    by ChanTella 9 September 2010

  • I dont agree that we dont "eat for two". Personally i have found that I am hungry all the time. The only problem is when it comes to eating lunch or dinner, Im put off and im not hungry. If i eat junk food like crisps and sweets or something then i could eat all day. its really strange. x

    by mummy-devey 8 September 2010

  • when i was last pregnant i craved mcdonalds fries.. /: i had about 8 bags of them aday! xx

    by lauralicious 16 August 2010

  • I've found my eating habits depend on my mood if im angry i eat really healthy but if im happy i let myself get away with more.

    by youngmum2b 7 August 2010

  • ive found out im eating alot more :) even the foods i dont usually eat x

    by GeorginaA 6 August 2010

  • yes you do need the extra 500 calories but its the equivilant to 2 slices of bread! not alot more food lol! with my daughter i went off any pork product until 20 weeks the smell made me want to be sick. My son it was beef. With my son my cravings were really healthy, i loved ice lollies or ice cold fruit juice. Bits of fruit that had been in the fridge for ages too, so were nice and cold lol! I did however put on quite abit of weight with my son cause i was working full time stuck behind a desk so would munch on biscuits and didnt get alot of exercise. If i decide to have another baby i will be making sure i am a decent weight before hand, still need to loose some weight from being pregnany with cody! I will then try to eat as healthily as possible tooso dont put weight on. I think some women use im pregnant as an excuse to eat whatever they want whenever they want! I also wonder if putting all the weight on that i did had anything to do with my son being 9lb at birth! lol

    by mumof2 6 August 2010

  • i haven't had any cravings i just seem to be eating loads of junk food...i have stared to eat lots more fruit i have no energy as my iron levels are low so i just lay on the sofa and eat lol

    by mum2bemma 4 August 2010

  • Ive found that Im eating more. But not food that I normally eat. Just more of my cravings. (:

    by 30 July 2010

  • im 22weeks pregnant and found myself eating alot more, but everytime i eat i just bring it back up again which isnt good. Although i have found i manage to keep down cereals and craving muffins and KFC which i need to stop eating lol

    by Demii-Carla 29 July 2010

  • Its in the last 3 months you need the extra 500 calories @LittleMumma - I, however, munched like mad. I craved home cooked food, things like sausage casserole and mash but I also ate alot of KFC and Dominoes. I managed to put on 4 stone before I stopped looking at the scales!!! I did try and eat healthily, I ate alot of fruit and started to eat fish (fish is good for baby). I didnt have any strange cravings really but a friend of mine craved powder foundations... weirdly enough she said eyeshadow didnt taste the same. I decided to trust her judgement rather then test it lol xxx

    by ryansmummyuk 28 July 2010

  • I went off my food more than anything and only wanted my cravings! I didn't need them though and i would eat if someone else made it! I think i was out of energy and making food wasn't top of my list......but i thought you were supposed to have an extra 500 calories a day when pregnant (might have made that up myself?!) It was after I had my second that i put on weight when i had the implant it gave me an increased appetite...think i put on about 2 stone with it!

    by LittleMumma 28 July 2010