Snacks Done Right

Satisfying Pregnancy Cravings in a Healthy Way

By Lisa A. Goldstein

You're hungry again. You just finished dinner 15 minutes ago. How can you satiate your hunger pangs without packing on the pounds or adding to the guilt?

Your motto should be: Snacking isn't a bad thing as long as it's done right.

"The key to snacking during pregnancy is to have the mother realize that pregnancy is not a license to eat the refrigerator and the kitchen sink in one day," says Andrea Crivelli-Kovach, director of the community health program at Arcadia University in suburban Philadelphia. "A pregnant woman only really needs about 300 calories a day more than usual, so choosing snacks can be fun but challenging to avoid gaining 50 or more pounds during her pregnancy."

For many moms-to-be, eating is a huge issue. It starts with snacking to alleviate queasiness in the first trimester and ends with only being able to eat small meals later in the pregnancy when there's no more room for a large meal.

Getting into good habits early will only pay off later. "Pregnancy is not a time to lose weight, but it is a good time to improve eating habits, if needed," says Sandy Procter, a registered dietitian with Kansas State Research and Extension, where she works as a maternal and child nutrition specialist. "By eating smaller meals and planning for smaller snacks in between, we may find that we are less likely to overeat than if we restrict ourselves to only eating at mealtimes and realizing that we are over-hungry when we get to the table."

The danger in eating foods high in calories, fat and sugar is while they contribute calories, they don't offer much nutrition. "An occasional not-so-nutritious snack is probably not going to be a problem, but if snacks are frequent and of this type, chances are the woman will be taking in more calories than are needed but less of the valuable nutrients that are needed for her optimal health as well as the development of the baby," says Procter. "Weight gain beyond what is needed for pregnancy is likely, but this is highly individual and difficult to generalize."

Want to see more?

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• Nutrition Times Two: 5 Tips for Healthy Eating
  While You're Expecting
• Pregnancy Nutrition from A to Z: A Comprehensive List of Nutrition Issues for Moms-to-be
• Talk about it!