Following the Food Pyramid Helps With Appropriate Weight Gain

The website and tool mypyramid.gov is designed to be individualized, therefore a person's pre-pregnancy weight is taken into account when generating an appropriate eating framework. The pre-pregnancy weight is an important determinant for weight gain in pregnancy. Studies show that appropriate weight gain maximizes chances of positive pregnancy outcomes and lifelong health of the infant. Because mypyramid.gov is not a "one size fits all" plan, individual differences in pre-pregnancy weight will influence the framework generated by the website. For example, a 32 year old woman 5'6" tall who weighs 120 pounds is expected to gain from 28-40 pounds during pregnancy, whereas a 32 year old woman of the same height who is 180 pounds should gain from 15-25 pounds. The food pyramid plan generated for these two examples would reflect this difference in weight gain recommendations. 

Other differences that are reflected in the plans generated by the website include differences in age and activity level. For example a teen would have higher caloric needs than a woman in her thirties and a woman who exercises for an hour a day would have higher needs than one who exercises only 15 minutes a day.