Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice his Department gives to pregnant women on dieting.

NHS Choices provides advice to pregnant women or those planning a pregnancy on eating healthily during pregnancy. Details of that advice can be found here:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/healthy-pregnancy-diet.aspx

Public Health England's Start4Life social marketing programme encourages pregnant women to eat a healthy diet. The Start4Life website provides guidance on healthy eating, including directing mothers-to-be to practical tools such as a 28-day plan for boosting fruit and vegetable intake during pregnancy. Start4Life’s Information Service for Parents also provides guidance via email on a healthy diet during pregnancy, and promotes the Healthy Start food vouchers scheme, which enables eligible mothers-to-be to get free fruit, vegetables and vitamins.

Start4Life leaflets and posters are used by healthcare professionals to provide information on a healthy diet to pregnant women.