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Updated: Sep 21, 2025

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Maternal Nutrition and Fetal/Infant Development
Sangeeta Jain1, Akhil Maheshwari2, Sunil K Jain3
1Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555, USA.
Abstract:
Nutrition in pregnant mothers has long been known to be an important determinant of fetal/maternal outcomes. In general, the typical American diet shows opportunities for improvement. The intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber may be below recommended levels, but the relative proportion of sodium, fats, and carbohydrates seems high. In this review, we present current evidence on how the fetal/neonatal outcomes may be altered by maternal nutrition at the time of conception, fetal nutrition in utero, contribution of maternal dietary factors in fetal outcomes, weight gain during pregnancy, diabetes during pregnancy, fetal growth restriction (FGR), maternal nutritional status during later pregnancy, and pregnancy in adolescent mothers.
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