The importance of healthy eating for children

I want to look at healthy eating for children but thought we should take this back to what may be the key point  for our offspring in terms of nutrition as it doesn't begin the day they are born, but the day we decide to conceive. We are told to get our bodies ready by eating healthily, exercising, cutting down on alcohol and taking vitamins to maximise our chances of conceiving and be in optimum health for pregnancy.
Our babies are being nourished from day one in the uterus so this may mean that even the foods we eat during pregnancy have an impact on the development of the foetus and our body certainly lets us know if there is something the baby needs in the form of cravings. It’s not just physical nourishment its emotional too for it has been said that the unborn can take on the emotions of the parents especially the mother at a cellular level.
I remember when I was pregnant spending those first weeks scrolling through articles and websites looking for information on what to and what not to eat during pregnancy. There was and still are so much information out there and some of it conflicting, I personally found it overwhelming and at times confusing.
I think the only thing you can do is to be as informed as possible and then make the best choices for you and your baby which will also depend on where you are geographically, what your personal, religious and societal beliefs are.
Some people will choose to stay away from stimulants such as caffeine and alcohol during pregnancy and breastfeeding, some won't. Some will choose not to eat meat and foods with antibiotics, chemicals, additives and hormones and some won’t.  Some parents will vaccinate their kids, choose elective C sections and or birthing drugs and some will not.
Do any of these affect the unborn child, well yes there is the term foetal alcohol syndrome and it is known that smoking can cause low birth weight, but no one knows for sure in regards to the others what does and does not cross the blood brain barrier but there are studies carried out and articles written in response to many of these issues if you wish to delve deeper. 
I wish I knew more when I was pregnant than I know now I would perhaps have made a few different choices, but like all parents I did the best I could with the information I had at that time and I think that is all you can do as a parent.
Soon after my first child was born I came across a wonderful book titled 'Mother and Child 'by Jan de Vries it was a follow up to his book 'Pregnancy and Childbirth'. It touches on many things from vaccinations, breastfeeding, nutrition, ADHD, additives, phosphates and often serves up alternatives to the general route taken. Whilst both books may be a little dated now they are definitely worth a read for anyone who is, or is thinking of becoming a parent.