(NaturalNews) Children develop a taste for the foods that their mothers eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding, highlighting the importance of pregnant and nursing women's dietary choices, according to a new study published in the journal
Pediatrics.
"It's a beautiful system," lead researcher Julie Mennella said. "Flavors from the mother's diet are transmitted through amniotic fluid and mother's milk. So, a baby learns to like a food's taste when the mother eats that food on a regular basis."
Researchers conducted a number of experiments on the
food preferences of infants. In one, they supplemented the diets of some pregnant and nursing women with carrot
juice, then compared the food preferences of their
children with children whose
mothers had not had carrot juice. The children in the former group had more of a
taste for carrots than children in the latter. The same effect was demonstrated with the children of nursing
women who ate raw peaches.
In another experiment, researchers fed
green beans to women whose children had already begun to eat solid food but were still nursing for part of their
diet. At the beginning of the study, the children rejected the green beans. Once their nursing mothers had been eating the
vegetables for a while, however, the children began to eat them too.
The study shows how important it is that pregnant and nursing women eat lots of
fruits and vegetables, Mennella said.
"Vegetable and
fruit consumption is linked to lower risks of obesity and certain cancers," she said. "The best predictor of how much
fruits and vegetables children eat is whether they like the tastes of these foods. If we can get babies to learn to like these tastes, we can get them off to an early start of healthy
eating."
The researchers noted that even children who have not had this head start will still acquire a taste for vegetables if exposed to them regularly. Parents simply need to avoid getting discouraged when children reject the foods or demonstrate distaste the first few times.
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