Eating for the Future

With all that we know about tobacco, how can people still smoke?

It's easy. They're enticed by big business; they enjoy it; it's cool; and it's very, very habit forming. Now for the sobering truth - poor nutritional choices cause every bit as much cancer, death, disability, and chronic disease as cigarettes do. The modern American diet is public health threat number one to our children. With all that we know about junk food, how can people still eat it?

What an opportunity you have! For generations, many parents had no idea that they could start their children on the road to good nutrition before they were even born.

Just for perspective, you may want to watch an hour of children's cartoons on television, or watch a group of kids in a fast food joint. You'll be struck by the amount of unhealthy food powerfully, enticingly, seductively marketed to our kids with songs, toys, commercials, and characters.

How much better to have a tradition of good nutrition before they meet that onslaught! How much better to support their enjoyment of delicious healthy foods when solid foods are first introduced!

And now is an even more special opportunity. In the womb, your baby's eyes are shielded from the seduction of commercials, from the kid's meal toys, and from the group-think of peer pressure. She tastes and remembers what you eat! All she knows is what you feed her in quiet, and what her dad feeds you. She loves what she eats, grows from it now, and develops tastes for the future.

The prenatal vitamin is an important way to fill in the nutrient gaps, but babies were designed to thrive from what mothers ate long before these and other supplements were invented.

When I was growing up, my father grew tomatoes in our backyard. These vine-ripened tomatoes were absolutely delicious - far better than any others I can remember having. As plants grow, the new growth is built from materials taken from the soil. Nothing can be incorporated into plants unless it is present in the soil. Plants grown in depleted soils are just not the same. But plants do the best they can with whatever materials are available. They can do a lot with a little.

You are your baby's soil.

When you first meet your baby face to face, you'll be looking at cheeks and toes built from the food you have eaten.

What an opportunity!

Read More from: Eating for Two: A Guide to Mother's Nutrition during Pregnancy

Eating for Two Part 1 - Pregnancy A Special Time
Eating for Two Part 2 - Folate and Iron
Eating for Two Part 3 - How Much Folate Do You Need?
Eating for Two Part 4 - The Gift of Iron
Eating for Two Part 5 - Vitamin B6 and Iodine
Eating for Two Part 6 - Zinc
Eating for Two Part 7 - Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid, and Omega-3
Eating for Two Part 8 - Not Found in Most Prenatal Vitamins!
Eating for Two Part 9 - Calcium!?
Eating for Two Part 10 - Calories
Eating for Two Part 11 - Liver
Eating for Two Part 12 - Chocolate
Eating for Two Part 13 - Eating for the Future