Should It Be Illegal For Women To Eat Junk Food While Pregnant?
I say YES
Should it be illegal for women to eat junk food while pregnant?
We all know that junk food provides inadequate nutrition for adults and growing babies and leads to obesity and other health problems – so should women be banned from eating junk food while pregnant?
In fact if I had my way I would ban junk food enterily; it’s not good for you; we need ahealthier generation.
February 21st, 2010 at 8:28 pm
A liberal hippie would not say that. That’s worse than outlawing abortion. I mean, yes the people that eat junk food all the time are wastes of space, and no maybe they aren’t doing their babies right, but ton of people do that already, with hard drugs and nicotine. What’s the difference? If we give them the power to take away junk food, the will easily take away abortion, marijuana use, watching certain channels of television.. the list goes on and on. It’s the road to communism. I hate television and obese people. But if we think the solution is saying to someone, “No, you’re not allowed to do this” that is taking away their freedom. We should find another way to fix things. Educate people. Give them reasons NOT to eat junk food. If once they’re educated they continue that lifestyle, shun them. Maybe if they’re social outcasts they will change their tune. It happens with alot of obese people. Smoking cigarettes is horrible for you, but people do it anyway.. some people do it they’re pregnant. Same thing with junk food. Criminalize it, but don’t make it illegal.
EDIT: Being a green “freak” isn’t wrong, and if she is one more power to her! I definitely run an environment friendly home, and for your information, I do use toilet paper.
I’m not saying the concept of not eating junk food is bad, it’s just a kind of discrimination against pregnant women. Now, what you’re talking about banning it altogether, that isn’t discrimination, it’s just like back to the cigarettes and alcohol. People are free to harm their own bodies, and should be. I like my septum ring but it would be illegal if we went down the road of “anything that poses any kind of health risk should be made illegal”. I am a vegetarian and some people think that I’m harming MY child. Whatever we do with our bodies is our own personal decision, and we have to reap the consequences if we make the wrong one. Some vegetarian moms don’t take protein supplements. I do. Does that mean that being a vegetarian while you’re pregnant should be illegal? No.
As for the person below me, actually, you should know that eating too much junk food while your pregnant DOES have negative health affects on your child. But in those cases we are talking about obese mothers who have weak babies who are born with clogged arteries and inadequate metabolic rates because their mothers ate so much grease.
I do marijuana occasionally, and I am 18 weeks pregnant. But guess what? I have discussed it with my doctor. Who by the way said that the pregnancy safe migraine medicine I was taking was worse for me than smoking half a joint a day. I do not smoke cigarettes, I don’t drink alcohol. I exercise daily. She has a point about the junk food.. just.. there is so much here that is unaddressed. Things shouldn’t be outlawed because SOME people abuse them. That’s my point. Some people know how to eat junk food responsibly; as in, maybe one bag of chips every once in a while. One diet soda every once in awhile. One sugar free candy every once in awhile. It being ILLEGAL is too much.
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:35 am
I don’t think so. There’s other things that pregnant women have done that have actually been known to hurt and cause birth defects or low birth weight like smoking and drinking alcohol and those things are not illegal. Sometimes junk food is the only food pregnant women can handle or keep down if they are very sick. Maybe instead of trying to think about making something illegal that isn’t known to hurt the baby and doesn’t have warnings that it can hurt the baby try thinking about making things that are known to hurt the baby illegal. It’s illegal for anyone under 21 to drink but I saw a girl about age 16 trying to buy alcohol with her baby in her arms. She tried to say she was old enough because she had a baby. In her case she shouldn’t have even tried to drink because she has a baby to take care of.
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:50 am
Sure that’s a nice concept. But first I think it would be more beneficial to help educate and discourage pregnant women from smoking and drinking. I still see a lot of women – of all ages, financial incomes, education, status, race, class – who smoke and drink during their pregnancy.
I don’t think a “ban” would work, either. How do you even propose to execute that? Have shopkeepers and grocery store clerks tell a woman who might appear to be pregnant to “put back the box of cookies”? What if she isn’t even pregnant and just appears to have a potbelly – then what? What if she’s buying them for her husband or friend? What about things like white bread, white rice, soda crackers and other completely non-nutritional foods that just break down into nothing but sugars in your system? Soda crackers happen to be one of the only things a seriously morning-sick pregnant woman can stomach and keep down.
I understand what you’re getting at, but you seem to be shouting from atop a soap box before really thinking about what it is you’re saying.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:22 am
Why would you want to be able to control what pregnant women can and can’t have? Like one responder said, “What if she isn’t even pregnant and just appears to have a potbelly – then what?”
What if she’s buying them for her husband or friend? What about things like white bread, white rice, soda crackers and other completely non-nutritional foods that just break down into nothing but sugars in your system? Soda crackers happen to be one of the only things a seriously morning-sick pregnant woman can stomach and keep down.”
Here if we tried to tell a pregnant women that I think that you shouldn’t smoke when you’re pregnant we could be shot if she isn’t pregnant or I pushed the wrong button. Not only that but it seems like you are trying to control ones who aren’t even born and made the decision to either do or not do drugs, alcohol, smoking, and other things without even looking at the other things that pose more of a health risk.
Hmm.. Liberal hippie? Do you also attend church and if so it is a liberal one? I hear that there is a Christian swingers group and the website claims to be from liberated Christians who support swinging. I don’t know how they feel towards this activity but I wonder how they justify their behavior into their beliefs. If you can comment on my next post I’d appreciate it but I doubt you swing since you’re so concerned about your health and health of others.
February 22nd, 2010 at 5:24 am
i belive everything is ok in moderation. making junk food illegal for pregnant women would not be possible, would they have to log everything they eat? would stores have to refuse to sell it to them? and what would happen if they did eat junk food, what would the consequences be? while i dont think it should be illegal, i think pregnant women should make healthy food choices for them and the baby. just because you are eating for two does not mean you have the right to scarf down a large pepperoni pie by yourself. but chips and dips and ice cream never hurt anyone, if its eaten in moderation and not an everyday thing.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:38 am
I am going to guess you are some type of green freak. Who composts and refuses to use toilet paper as it is not good on the environment!
Almost EVERY pregnant woman eats junk food, even vegetarians I am sure. The cravings us pregnant women have are off the chain. And what we crave can be sometimes outrageous! You find me a child who has been born with health defects from the mother eating too much junk food and then maybe JUST maybe I might back you until then I will not! Why because there probably has never been a baby born with health defects because the mother ate junk food. I agree with others start focusing on those who drink,smoke, and do drugs!!
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:14 am
One major problem with that is the fact that when women are in the first trimester and experiencing morning sickness sometimes the only thing they can keep down is “junk” food. And at that time, it is more important to the fetal development to have CALORIES, not necessarily health food.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 am
I’ve eaten junk food. My baby is healthy, I’m healthy, and I’ve only gained 2 stone of pregnancy weight.
Junk food is nice, It might not be healthy, but it makes me feel better that I can have some comfort food when I feel like crap instead of eating a naff carrot stick.
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:37 pm
well, first you need to determine what qualifies as junk food. then, become a nutritionist so you know what you’re talking about and lobby your lawmakers. i think it should be illegal for you to concern yourself with someone else’s diet.
February 22nd, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Absolutely not, everyone should be able to make a choice about what they eat and while Im pregnant I need my comfort foods, having junk food is not necessarily bad for you, it depends on how much of it you eat.
February 22nd, 2010 at 10:04 pm
A little ice-cream or chocolate never killed anyone. It’s the people that eat that stuff all day who have the problem. Not us pregnant ladies. And I watch my weight, why deprive yourself of the things you like completely? What kind of life is that?
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 am
All things in moderation. I agree that there is way too much junk on the market, that being said if I am craving a potato chip I am going to have one, or a few. It is not like it is all I eat.
February 23rd, 2010 at 3:29 am
How bout YOU just don’t eat junk food during YOUR pregnancy and leave the decision of what others eat to them? Problem solved. Then you will not have to lose our junk food weight or care for our obese babies……….
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 am
Only if you want hordes of raging balls of hormones roaming the streets.
Seriously you just try depriving me of my chips when I really want them. You’ll at least lose an eye.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:25 am
It’s up to each person what they eat. I will generally eat healthy, but what’s wrong with a little junk food once every fortnight as a treat?
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:34 am
There are far worse things that should be dealt with before trying to deprive a pregnant woman of a little indulgence now and then.
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I would be in jail right now. I try to be health conscious, but when I am pregnant, I have craving (which at times is for junk food.) Good Luck with that!
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:17 pm
How about we ban pregnant mothers from drinking and smoking and doing drugs??? Then worry about the junk food.
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Good luck with that.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:45 pm
This is the silliest question I ever read.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
boy you would like to control every aspect of a parents life wouldn’t you? my guess is you are still a child
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Yeah, your funny.