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Too Little Dairy for Pregnant Teens May Affect Baby's Bones

Pregnant teens getting fewer than two servings of dairy a day could be shortchanging the bone development of their babies.

Using 10 years of data from an inner-city maternity clinic, researchers studied the relationship between dairy intake and fetal femur length in 350 pregnant 13- to 18- year old African Americans. Dairy intake was evaluated by a registered dietitian at the time the teens entered the prenatal care program. After adjusting for variables, the lowest dairy intake (fewer than two servings daily) resulted in significantly lower fetal femur length than the highest dairy intake (three or more servings daily). Results also showed that the highest dairy intake resulted in overall better nutrition (e.g. adequate intake of nutrients including protein, vitamin A and iron) in this vulnerable population.

Note
Most people can meet their calcium needs with three dairy servings a day, but all teens need about four servings of dairy a day, in order to reach the current calcium recommendation of 1300 mg/day. Practical suggestions for increasing dairy intake can be found at www.3aday.org.

Chang, S, et al. Fetal femur length is influenced by maternal dairy intake in pregnant African American adolescents. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2003; 77:1248-1254.