[Changes in food preferences in pregnant women]

Pregnant women frequently show significant changes in their eating habits. The aim of the study was to evaluate the pleasure derived from the consumption of selected food groups in women during the first and second trimester of pregnancy.

The studied group included 64 healthy women, aged 23-38. 32 women were in the first trimester of pregnancy and 32 women in the second trimester. The food preference interviews were conducted by the presentation of colourful photographs showing selected food groups. Then each participant answered the following question: "How much pleasure do you take from this food?". The results were recorded on a linear analogue scale. The women evaluated the pleasure they derived from food before pregnancy and in the first or second trimester of pregnancy.

The women in the first trimester of pregnancy, showed a lower preference for eggs, sweets, pasta, red meat, fast food, salty snacks, spicy food, and seafood as compared to their preferences before the pregnancy. The women in the second trimester declared a significantly higher preference for chicken soup, fruit and sour food, and rated the taste of beef and pork, spicy food and salty snacks as less pleasurable than before the pregnancy.

The first trimester of pregnancy is a period of decreased pleasure derived from food, whereas the perception of food in the second trimester is characterized by a general hedonic dimension similar to that from before the pregnancy. Both in the first and the second trimester of pregnancy women show a lower preference for beef and pork, spicy food and salty snacks.