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Is there a relationship between children's behaviour and food cravings during pregnancy?
Lama M Al-Mehaisen1, Naser A Al-Husban2, Alaa I Matalka2
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical School, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Objectives:
Food craving is a well-known phenomenon during pregnancy that is driven by nutritional requirements for optimal foetal development. This mechanism plays a vital role in ensuring normal prenatal and postnatal development. The goal of the present study is to assess whether cravings experienced during pregnancy are related to children's behaviour.
Methods:
A retrospective study was conducted in the gynaecology outpatient unit of a local hospital on healthy non-pregnant women, with children aged between 18 months and 5 years. Eligible women completed a questionnaire regarding their child's behaviours and cravings experienced during their pregnancy. Chi-square tests were used to examine relationships between cravings and behaviour.
Results:
A total of 336 women were included in the study (child mean age = 44.11 ± 15.65 months; 55.7% females). Food cravings were experienced by 83.1% (n = 304/366) of the participants. The most commonly reported food craving was for fruit (n = 112, 33.3%). Other cravings included salty crackers (n = 40, 10.9%), sweets (n = 35, 9.6%), meat (n = 32, 8.7%), and vegetables (n = 29, 7.9%). There was variation in frequency of the children's behavioural problems: always (more than 50% of the occasions), sometimes (10-50% of the occasions), and none.
Conclusions:
Our analyses showed that most behavioural issues were not associated with cravings during pregnancy. Further investigation into how diet and foetal development may impact childhood behaviour is warranted.