Maternal dietary health is the corner stone for predicting the survival of mothers and their newborns. The mother’s pre-pregnancy weight is a key factor in predicting the survival of the mother and her newborn. Immigrant women are usually underweight and therefore are at increased risk for producing newborns that are at low birth weight and more vulnerable to infectious disease. Subsequent weight gain or loss during pregnancy may result if health choices are unavailable or if there are limited food sources.
The recommended dietary allowance for pregnant women consists of 3 servings of milk, 3 servings of fruit, 4 servings of vegetables, 6–12 servings from the bread group, and 3 protein portions. Folate supplementation is often needed to equal 600 micrograms (1,362 nanomoles) in addition to foods to reach the recommended intake of folate. Several small meals per day and a minimum of eight glasses of water are recommended.
Diets that lack dairy products or a variety of vegetables have...
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Holvik, K., Meyer, H. E., Haug, E., & Brunvand, L. (2005). Prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in five immigrant groups living in Oslo, Norway: the Oslo Immigrant Health Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 59, 57–63.
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Tinker, A., & Ransom, E. (2002). Healthy mothers and healthy newborns: the vital link. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://prb.org/pdf/HealthyMothers_Eng.pdf
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Larkins-Pettigrew, M.D. (2012). Maternal Dietary Intake. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_488
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