The relationship between different types of meat intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes remains unclear. We prospectively examined the association between total meat, total red meat, unprocessed red meat, processed meat and poultry intake and the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Subjects were 27 425 men and 36 424 women aged 45–75 years who participated in the second survey of the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study, and had no history of type 2 diabetes, cancer, stroke, IHD, chronic liver disease or kidney disease. Meat intake was estimated using a validated 147-item FFQ. OR of self-reported, physician-diagnosed type 2 diabetes over 5 years were estimated using a multiple logistic regression. A total of 1178 newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes were self-reported. Intakes of total meat and total red meat were associated with the increased risk of type 2 diabetes in men but not in women. The multivariate-adjusted OR for the highest quartile compared with the lowest quartile of total meat and total red meat intake were 1·36 (95 % CI 1·07, 1·73; P for trend = 0·006) and 1·48 (95 % CI 1·15, 1·90; P for trend = 0·003) for men, respectively, and 0·82 (95 % CI 0·62, 1·09; P for trend = 0·14) and 0·77 (95 % CI 0·57, 1·02; P for trend = 0·08) for women, respectively. Intakes of processed red meat and poultry were not associated with the increased risk of diabetes in either men or women. In conclusion, elevated intake of red meat is associated with the increased risk of type 2 diabetes in Japanese men but not in women.

The nutrition of pregnant women is decisive in the course of gestation and the health of both mother and child. However, in the Spanish population, clinical monitoring of nutrition is rare, the control of bodyweight receiving most attention. Many studies show that pregnant women take too much fat and too little carbohydrate, and that intakes of fibre and several trace elements are lower than recommended.

Although many people think they know what a correct (varied and balanced) diet is, the concept is often misleading. Generally, they do not match the ideal theoretical framework for achieving an adequate energy profile of the diet. Neither do they facilitate intakes of vitamins and minerals close to recommended levels. Nutrition education programmes are therefore required to explain adequate dietary guidelines to pregnant women, and indeed to all women of childbearing age.

Considering the criteria suggested by a number of researchers concerning the number of food portions from each food group that pregnant women should include in their diets, the following guidelines for daily consumption are proposed: 3–4 portions of milk products, 2–3 portions of meat, fish or eggs, and 3 portions of fruit, 4–5 portions of vegetables or greens and 7–8 portions of cereals and legumes (a portion is defined as the amount of food that would be found on an average plateful or the normal units of consumption of a food).