For the current study, researchers analyzed data from 383 participants in a previous study. During study visits, participants in a North Carolina health care system provided information on what they ate for the previous day during the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after giving birth.

Researchers scored participant responses according to the Healthy Eating Index, a measure of how closely someone’s diet adheres to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Healthy Eating Index gauges consumption of healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, greens, legumes, and whole grains, as well as foods that should be consumed in moderation, such as refined grains, sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats. Healthy Eating Index scores range from 0 to 100 and are expressed in a graded approach, with 90 to 100 equivalent to an A, 80 to 89 equivalent to a B, 70 to 79 a C, and 60 to 69 a D.

The group’s average was 61.4 during pregnancy and 61.7 in the year after pregnancy—both low Ds. The highest scores were seen in participants with a college degree (64.7 in pregnancy and 66.4 post pregnancy) and among non-Hispanic whites (64.7 in pregnancy and 66.4 post pregnancy). Participants’ scores were consistent throughout the study, with only minor variations between visits.

Significance

The authors noted that low diet quality scores were present among all groups in the study, which reflects an urgent need for widespread improvement.

First the Baltics, now Taiwan. This month saw the latest in a spate of incidents in which crucial undersea cables connecting U.S. allies have been damaged or severed. 

Some have been cast as acts of sabotage, pinning blame on Russia and China amid heightened geopolitical tensions. 

Early this month, Taiwan’s coast guard said it had intercepted the Xing Shun 39 — a Hong Kong-owned freighter carrying the Cameroonian and Tanzanian flags — after the Beijing-claimed island’s biggest telecom company, Chunghwa Telecom, alerted authorities that an international undersea cable had been damaged on Jan. 3. 

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A “preliminary assessment” suggested the damage might have been caused by the freighter, which “transited the area at the time of the incident,” the coast guard said.