Baby’s food choices depend on mother's diet

8 December, 2007

One’s preference for food begins in the womb. Pregnant women can make their would-be born children like healthy foods simply by eating such foods during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

The process that starts in the womb can be continued after birth as taste and smell is also transferred to the infant through the mother’s milk, new research has shown.

Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Centre in Philadelphia, the United States, came to this conclusion during a study of the development of food and flavor preferences in humans.

Experts feel that the findings will give an impetus to the ongoing campaign in the United States to reduce rates of obesity in children by instilling a taste for vegetables, such as broccoli and sprouts, before a child tastes chocolate and crisps.

Dr Julie Mennella, who led the study, was quoted by the media as saying, “Flavours from the mother’s diet are transmitted through amniotic fluid and mother’s milk. A baby learns to like a food’s taste when the mother eats that food on a regular basis.”

She experimented by giving carrot juice to a group of pregnant women and those who were breastfeeding. The results, Dr Julie Mennella said, showed that those babies preferred carrots, after they were introduced to solid foods, compared to babies born to mothers who had not regularly consumed carrot juice.

Another experiment conducted by Dr Mennella using raw peaches yielded similar results: babies born to women who regularly included raw peaches in their diet during pregnancy or when breastfeeding became much more inclined to eat raw peaches as they got older.

In another study, involving older babies who were eating solids as well as receiving breast milk, it was found that the infant rejected green beans, until the mother started having green beans.

Dr Julie Mennella concluded: “If mothers want their babies to learn to like to eat vegetables, especially green vegetables, they need to provide them with opportunities to taste these foods.”

Dr Mennella’s research has been confirmed by another study conducted in France, which showed that the children of mothers exposed to anise-flavored drinks while breastfeeding were more likely to accept the taste of aniseed.

Yet another research has found the same effect with garlic.

Experts say that the explanation for such effects dates back to the evolution of humans. Bitter tastes are generally caused by alkaloids – poisons developed by plants to protect themselves against being eaten. Over time, humans developed inherent reactions against such tastes because of which infants reject foods.