For many women it’s hard to stick to healthy food options when they are pregnant. They need extra calories as they grow another human inside them and then there are the cravings…

Of course there are some women who crave all the good stuff – Jessica Simpson told Yahoo site OMG last week she has been off pizza since falling pregnant and instead can’t get enough fruit. “I love cantaloupe! I can eat a full cantaloupe a day!” the star raved.

Lucky for Jess – when her sister Ashlee was expecting her son Bronx, Life & Style reported that she craved anything with chocolate as well as deep-fried foods such as beef taquitos and burgers.

But regardless of cravings, pregnant women usually try to curb unhealthy cravings in favour of a more balanced approach to food in order to ensure their baby gets all the goodies they need.

And researchers from Warwick Medical School have claimed that mums who eat a healthy, balanced and varied diet during pregnancy can pass on significant long-term benefits to their babies.

Dr Ponnusamy Saravanan said the vitamins in a mum-to-be’s diet “fundamentally” influences the DNA function of her baby, which partially determines if a baby will be more prone to being overweight when they are an adult.

He added: “So this very early ‘in-utero’ stage can be critical in mapping out [the baby's] adult health.”

Women who develop strange cravings for bizarre things should get help, according to a representative of the Association of Radical Midwives.

Sarah Montagu said wanting to eat things like wall plaster might point to a nutritional deficiency, for example a lack of calcium. “It is a good idea to see somebody if you have that kind of bizarre [craving],” she added.

Are you struggling with cravings? How do you ensure you maintain a healthy, balanced diet while pregnant?