[Dietary behavior during pregnancy (author's transl)].

A study on dietary behavior during pregnancy was performed between June and December 1975 at the Saint Antoine Maternity Hospital in Paris. In addition to the routine clinical examinations at the 3rd, 6th, 8th and 9th month of pregnancy, the women were systematically questioned on their dietary and tobacco habits. Results show that: (1) the mean caloric intake is constant during the first trimester and then significantly decreases in the last two trimesters (2) the fatter the woman before pregnancy, the lower the caloric intake at the successive examinations (3) the total weight gain is positively related to the caloric intake during the first trimester, but not related to the dietary data observed at the 6th, 8th or 9th examinations (4) birth weight seems to be more related to body size before pregnancy than to weight gain.