Diet risk to babies of teen mothers

Simon Vevers
Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Many pregnant teenagers are putting their babies' health at risk because they cannot afford an adequate diet, a joint report by the Maternity Alliance and the Food Commission has claimed. The report, Good Enough to Eat?, published last week, found that two-thirds of pregnant teenagers living away from their family have a food budget of less than Pounds 20.25 per week - the estimated cost of a 'modest but adequate' diet - and that as money runs out they tend to eat less and fill up on cheap, unhealthy foods.