Eating for a Better Start (EFABS) is a series of nutrition education workshops developed for pregnant teenagers to help them have healthier babies. Adolescents might not be as prepared for or informed about pregnancy as are adult women, and EFABS can make a big difference. The workshops supply information on a variety of topics, including the kinds of foods that pregnant women should eat, the amount of weight that they need to gain, eating habits that ease pregnancy discomforts, stages of fetal development, breast- and formula-feeding, and the dangers of alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes during pregnancy.

The workshops are taught in a variety of settings, for example, high school classes, civic groups, health organizations, special facilities for pregnant teenagers, and sometimes in private homes. EFABS was developed by Penn State's Nutrition Center and the federally funded Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), with support from the March of Dimes.

For more information, contact Elise Gurgevich, 401 Agricultural Administration Bldg., University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, EliseG@psu.edu.