Vegetarians, vegans and pregnancy

Approximately 4% and 7% of UK consumers identify as vegans and vegetarians, respectively (Wunsch, 2024). The Food Standards Agency (2020) states that ‘those belonging to Generation Z [typically 16–25-year-olds], alongside Millennials [typically born between 1981 and 1996], are among the most likely to eat no meat or to be reducing their consumption of meat’.

What can be inferred about the quality of the food eaten by vegetarians/vegans, some of whom are pregnant or contemplating pregnancy? Analysing data from the UK national survey (2008/2019), Torquato et al (2024) found that ‘ultra-processed foods contributed more than half of the energy consumed by the UK's vegetarian population, with emphasis on packaged breads, meat-free ready-to-eat dishes and sweets and desserts'. This is interesting in the context of a Finnish retrospective case-control study of 150 women on a vegetarian diet and 300 omnivores, where Reijonen et al (2024) found that ‘gestational diabetes was more common in the vegetarian group’.