By Stephanie Stiavetti

Of course the foods you choose impact your baby, but new research suggests that a mother’s diet during pregnancy can have lifelong effects. In fact, scientists are discovering that eating right when you’re expecting may drastically lower your child’s chances of developing serious illnesses such as asthma and type 2 diabetes.

What They Know So Far
Recent studies now connect the rise of these health concerns to the earliest moments of life. For example, when rats are fed a processed, high-fat, and high-sugar diet during pregnancy, their offspring have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to a study published in The Journal of Physiology.

The risk remains even if the little ones eat a balanced diet during their lifetimes. Researchers say it may be due to a concentration of fat around major organs, a layer that seems to stay put even after the young rats ate a healthier diet. When given a choice, the offspring of poorly fed mothers were also much more likely to select a low-quality diet over a nutritious one. Although this was an animal-based study, scientists believe our own babies may respond similarly to unhealthy prenatal diets.

Even some healthy foods can cause problems when eaten to excess. Pregnant women who frequently eat nuts increase their child’s probability of developing asthma by as much as 50 percent, according to a Dutch study. Occasional snacking doesn’t put baby at risk; the problem seems to arise when moms-to-be eat large portions of nut products more than a few times a week.

On the other hand, eating certain foods, such as fresh fish and apples, during pregnancy may actually decrease your child’s chances of developing asthma, studies show. And the traditional Mediterranean diet—vegetables and fruits, beans and nuts, fish, dairy products, and olive oil—also seems to have a protective effect when it comes to allergies and respiratory problems, a British study recently revealed.

What You Can Do
Remember, moderation is everything. Eating too much of any one food, or eating too much overall—even of the healthy stuff—increases the chance of problems.