Craving for some crispy potato chips or a big fat cheesy burger?

You may have been a fitness freak who is super conscious about her health. But, when it comes to appetite during pregnancy, your hormones surely bring out the craziest side of you. So, don’t be too surprised if you’ve never been into chocolates but are munching on a pack of Nutties when pregnant. 

While you’re evolving along with your little one, food cravings can push you to make the silliest of excuses to have them. But, you always have more valid and serious reasons to not eat junk food when you’re expecting. Read along to know how your current food habits help in shaping your baby’s future health.

1. A Risk For Developing Allergies: You may have developed a sweet tooth during your pregnancy, but it’s not good for your baby. Studies say that women who ate foods with added sugar (be it in the form of honey, syrup or sucrose) during their pregnancy, saw an increase in the risk of allergies and asthma in their children when they aged between 7 to 9 years old.

2. An Invitation To Obesity: Too much of junk food intake when pregnant can risk your health greatly, and would also have a huge impact on the health of your baby. It may lead you to gain excessive weight, inviting complications for your little one, like- still birth, miscarriage, sleep apnea, preterm labor and birth defects.

3. A Risk Of Developing Junk Food Addiction: A study published in Frontiers explains how a mother’s diet can help in developing the baby’s food preferences.

It said that when pregnant rats were given high-fat food, they delivered heavier pups, which preferred high-fat foods. Their brain circuitry had been altered to develop an unavoidable weakness for fatty meals.

4. An Increased Risk Of Genetic Abnormalities: Regular intake of fatty foods or dishes that involve added sugar can lead to impaired peripheral insulin, which indicates mitochondrial dysfunction in the female offspring which may pass up to three generations, as per a study.

Besides these major negatives, the more junk you eat during your pregnancy, it would get harder for you to endure this phase than it already feels like. Healthy & nutritious snacking can give a kick-start to your child’s good health development- starting from brain to the immune system.

You can have cheat days once ina while, but keeping in mind the importance of your own health along with your little one’s. Have a happy and healthy pregnancy!