When someone is pregnant their dietary requirements change a lot, this is because they are now having to provide enough nutrients for both themselves and the baby. In this essay I am going to discuss the different nutrients that are important, where people can go for help and I will be looking at a given scenario to help overcome any issues.
The scenario I have been given is about a 17 year old Carli who has just found out she is 8 weeks pregnant. Carli is still in high school so to find out she is pregnant has come as a shock and she is quite upset. Carli doesn’t know anything about pregnancy and only took food and nutrition in year 9 so has a very limited nutritional knowledge. Carli lives with her mum and younger brother jack, her mum works at couplands and only has between $100-$150 to spend on food. Carli doesn’t have the best diet and is quite fussy, with the morning sickness she is having she is finding that she is eating a lot less. She has been to the doctor and was told to take extra vitamins like folic acid for the baby. Carli also likes to go on facebook and watch her brothers football, this means she sees a lot of advertising and she is unsure of what to believe.
Carli has very limited knowledge about pregnancy and the nutrients needed. She did take year 9 food and nutrition so she knows about the importance of the four food groups. Therefore Carli’s background understanding of what nutrients do what functions in the body is very small and will need to find a way to overcome this. Since pregnancy is so new and daunting for her she doesn’t know what nutrients are needed. She really needs to increase her nutritional knowledge so that she can start to purchase prepare and consume foods that are beneficial and nutritious during the pregnancy. Carli could go to her midwife or doctor who would be able to explain the main nutrients of concern for her and how she is best to get them. She has already been told to take extra vitamins like folic acid but she doesn’t know what this is or where to get it from.
The main nutrients of concern are folic acid (folate) , calcium, iron and iodine. Folic acid is a vitamin called B9 and it is required to make DNA and other genetic material. Folate is also needed for our body’s cells to divide up. Its requirements are increased during pregnancy for normal growth of the unborn baby. Adequate folate intake helps to prevent birth defects in the baby, such as spina bifida. It is needed early on to develop neural tube of brain and spinal cord. Carli can get folate from legumes (beans), leafy greens, asparagus, oranges, strawberries, avocado. During pregnancy the recommended folate intake increases from 400 micrograms a day to 600 micrograms. Due to this being very high it is extremely hard to get enough just through the food choices, she would need to have the equivalent of 500g of raw spinach or 900g of boiled spinach or raw broccoli daily to get the amount needed. For carli to get the recommended daily amount of folate I would suggest her having a supplement like Centrum for women which contains 400 micrograms of folate, and Elevit which contains a staggering 800 micrograms.
Calcium’s main function is to make strong bones and teeth and support the skeletal structure. During pregnancy calcium is vital for making your baby’s bones and teeth. Calcium also helps your baby grow a healthy heart, nerves, and muscles as well as develop a normal heart rhythm and blood-clotting abilities. If you don’t get enough calcium in your diet when you’re pregnant, your baby will draw it from your bones, which may impair your own health later on eg. osteoporosis which is a bone disease when the bones become fragile and brittle. This means your bones are more likely to break after a fall, but in serious cases bones can even break just from sneezing or minor bumps. The best sources of calcium is from milk, yogurt, cheese and green leafy vegetables. To help the absorption of calcium Carli needs vitamin D. Vitamin D can come from food like eggs but only in small amounts, when our skin is exposed to the sun the ultraviolet B rays are used to make vitamin D. Due to the sun being our main source of vitamin D it is important to get outside, however you need to be careful so you don’t get burnt. The lighter your skin the less time you need in the sun to make the vitamin D. If a baby doesn’t get enough vitamin D rickets can occur. Rickets can result in weak bones, delayed walking, bowed legs, and swollen wrists or ankles. If left untreated, rickets can lead to failure to grow, deformed or broken bones, pneumonia and seizures.
Irons function is so carry the oxygen around the body and brain, and releases the haemoglobin into our red blood cells. It is essential to live and you need it for a healthy body. Pregnancy can deplete a mother’s iron stores due to the fact that your body is making extra blood for yourself and your baby and iron is needed to make the haemoglobin. So it is important to have a good intake to help build and maintain these stores. If a woman does not have enough iron during pregnancy there is a higher risk of premature birth and low birth weight. Some good sources of iron are beef, poultry, seafood and legumes.
Iodines main function is for the conversion of food into energy and it is also needed for normal thyroid function. Iodine is essential to the development of your baby’s brain and nervous system. It also regulates your baby’s metabolism (the rate at which the body uses energy). To get enough iodine carli could be eat more seafood, dairy products, eggs and also bread as in NZ it is now fortified with iodine. All of these nutrients are available as a supplement for carli which can be found at supermarkets and pharmacies.
As the pregnancy goes on Carli will require more energy but as she doesn’t know anything about pregnancy she may be unaware how much more energy she needs and where to get it from. Increased energy needs means she will need to find out what foods give her the right amount of energy so she is able to stay healthy and provide enough nutrients for herself and her baby. It is also important that the need for more energy is not an excuse to eat junk food. For carli to find out more about the increased energy needs she could go see a dietician or look online. There is a common saying that during pregnancy woman can “eat for two” however this is just a myth. There have been many studies done about the increased energy needs during pregnancy which say that during the first and second trimesters women only need an extra 200-300 calories and in the third it might increase to 400-500 extra calories. Women need around 2000 calories a day so by increasing by up to 500 calories is certainly not “eating for two” in fact it is just eating the same as the required amount for men. As well as needing to eat more to get a good source of energy it is important to be eating the right foods. This means foods low in trans and saturated fat, low in salt and low in sugar. A great way for Carli to get long lasting energy is through complex carbohydrates. Some examples of complex carbs carli could be having are rolled oats, whole grain bread, pasta (especially wholemeal), and rice. It is also important to have low GI foods, the glycemic index ranks food based on how they affect the level of glucose in the bloodstream. Carbohydrate foods that break down quickly during digestion have a high GI and foods that break down slowly have a low GI. It is important to have low GI foods so the glucose in the bloodstream is kept at a steady level. Examples of low GI foods are oatmeal, pasta, whole grain bread, pasta and milk/yogurt.
Interpersonal planning
Family income- Carlis family only has between $100-$150 to spend on food a week so they have to be careful with what they buy. Havi
ng only a small amount of money to spend on food directly affects the type and amount of food they have. For example carlis family only buys white bread as it is much cheaper, this means they won’t be getting enough complex carbohydrates and fibre. To overcome this problem there are many things carlis family could do like growing your own vegetables, buying cheaper cuts of meat, and purchasing the budget brands. Growing your own vegetables can be a very cheap way to eat healthy, to buy a packet of seeds for something like tomatoes or carrots will only cost $2.99 at mitre 10. If carlis family wasn’t sure how to successfully grow vegetables in their backyard they could look at the gardening guides and advice on the the Mitre 10 website.
Growing your own vegetables will help their situation because it is cheap and it will allow them to get enough nutrients (like vitamin C, vitamin B, iron and even calcium) and also get their ‘5 a day’.
Meat can be very expensive so buying cheaper cuts of meat is the best way to go. Often cheaper cuts of meat require stewing or cooking for a long time these are cuts such as chuck steak or blade however since Carli cannot stand the taste of red meat she will need to get her protein from another source. Another cheap meat is chicken, although some would say it isn’t that cheap after looking on the countdown website at meat prices it was actually one of the cheapest other than cheap sausages which are extremely high in fat. Chicken can also be low in fat if you are eating chicken breast which is great as during pregnancy women need to limit their fat intake.
Purchasing budget brands of food in NZ can make save a lot of money. Pams, home brand, select and signature range are the main budget brands we have in New Zealand they sell a variety of products ranging from baking supplies to healthy and beauty and their goal is to have great quality products at affordable prices. To compare the prices of budget brands i will look at a 1kg bag of rice, a loaf of wholemeal bread and canned pineapple. Home brand rice was $1.80 whereas sun rice was $2.50 and kings choice was $2.80. Home brand was the cheapest loaf of bread at only $1, and both molenburg and tip top were $2.80. To compare canned pineapple i will look at the price per 100g as the different brands have different sized cans. Countdowns own select brand was the cheapest at $0.30/100g whereas Dole was $0.61/100g and golden circle was $0.67/100g. These are just 3 examples of foods you can buy cheaper with budget brands for the same product.
Peer pressure- During pregnancy it is important to not let into peer pressure as the safety of your baby and yourself should be your biggest priority. Carli is 17 years old, and it is during these teenage years when people are more likely to fall for peer pressure. In the scenario it says that carlis friends like to go to the local takeaway afterschool on a friday but her doctor has said to limit the amount of takeaways she eats as they are high in F/S/S which will not be good for the baby.
Carli doesn’t know how to tell her friends that she will not be able to go with them anymore. This is a great example of how carli could be affected by peer pressure. If carli feels like she can’t tell her friends about not being able to eat takeaways she would probably just go anyway and forget about what the doctor said. This could be very dangerous for the baby’s health. In takeaways the type of fat found is saturated and trans these are not fat Sugar will provide Carli with lots of calories so she will feel full but these are considered to be ‘empty calories’ this is because it provides her with no other nutrients and will be digested quickly causing a sudden rise of glucose in the bloodstream. Too much sugar can lead to obesity in both the mother and child. An excessive amount of salt in a pregnant woman’s diet can cause complications like low birth weight.
Wider community planning
Social media-
Millie ( insert your own person’s name) has a lack of nutritional knowledge due to the fact that she has (insert reasons in here ). She really needs to increase her nutritional knowledge so that she can start to purchase, prepare and consume foods that are beneficial and nutritious to her current situation. Millie could go to the schools Food and Nutrition teacher, who maybe happy to spend some time with her explain the main nutrients of concern for Millie because she is……..