The present disclosure is directed to the administration of specific carbohydrate systems to a pregnant woman for improving the health of offspring, including, for example, improved bone development and formation in the offspring and/or reduced incidence of deficiencies in bone health later in life in offspring, and/or enhanced cognitive development and/or CNS development in offspring. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to the administration of a carbohydrate system comprising a slow rate of digestion simple carbohydrate, a complex carbohydrate, and a non-absorbent carbohydrate and/or an indigestible carbohydrate to a pregnant woman for obtaining one or more of the above-mentioned benefits to the offspring. Optionally, the carbohydrate system may be administered during lactation to improve bone health and/or cognitive and/or CNS development in the offspring. In one aspect, such administration may reduce long term adverse bone health, improve cognitive development and/or improve CNS development and reduce related co-morbidities later in life in the offspring.
