Ukmedix is looking at new research that has examined the effect that dieting will have on women who are pregnant. The study that was undertaken at the University of Southampton shows that pregnant women can harm their unborn children by dieting. In the study ultrasound scans were used to examine the artery wall thickness in over two hundred nine year olds whose mothers were part of a study into nutrition when pregnant.

The results clearly showed that if a mother had a lower food intake when pregnant the artery wall would be thicker in the children and it was seen that the connection was correlated with the mothers who ate the smallest number of calories having the children with the thickest arteries.

The children with the thickest arteries definitely will have a bigger chance of getting atherosclerosis in later life which puts them at higher chance of heart attacks and strokes when they get older. The results were seen to be the same irrespective of socio-economic class, smoking or physical exercise habits, body mass and illness when pregnant.

Nutritionists say that a pregnant female should have about 2,500 calories daily howver in this study it was not determined exactly the perfect quantity of calories that should be consumed daily so stop the thickening of the arteries. Interestingly the researchers did note that the percentage of calorie intake from fat, protein and carbohydrate was not relevant to the thickening of the arteries only the total calorie intake was relevant.