Figure 1. Food intake and body weight of female Sprague-Dawley rats fed through gestation and lactation with diets varying in protein content. Data represent mean values±SD for daily food intake (a.), and for change in body weight from the first day of gestation (b.). Mothers were fed iso-energetic diets (prepared in our laboratory) containing either 20% (control: filled circle) or 5% (low-protein: open circle) whey protein through gestation and lactation. The numbers within brackets above each figure represent the trimester of human gestation to which each indicated period is equivalent. The total number of observations was 5 and 6 mothers for the control and low-protein groups, respectively. P values indicate the trimester equivalents during which there was a significant difference between the two diet groups.