It's intuitive that a person's tastes come from the food they were fed growing up. But new research shows that food memories and palates are shaped very early on in a child's life, and even in the womb. Strong flavors like vanilla, garlic, and mint have been shown to pass directly to babies in the womb.
NPR reports the foods and flavors mothers eat show up distinctively in amniotic fluid. What's more interesting is the reaction to the same foods after birth. Researchers tested babies who had been exposed to carrots in the womb against those who didn't, and, when fed carrots for the first time, those who hadn't had carrots had a negative reaction. Exposure to flavors early on greatly increases the chance that a child will like certain types of food.
Now, does that mean if you eat lots of Brussels sprouts while pregnant your toddler will gobble them up? Not necessarily. Many other factors come into play as kids grow. The researchers in this story urge parents to keep at it and eventually their kids' taste buds will come around.
• Read more: Baby's Palate And Food Memories Shaped Before Birth
Related: The Apple Trick: On Not Tricking Kids into Eating Well
(Image: Maggie Starbard/NPR)
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That's really funny...my soon-to-be-baby will apparenly love Mexican food and hummus!
This confirms what my mom has been saying all along. Her cravings for fried sweet plantains during her pregnancy were certainly passed on!
My mom, too, has always maintained this is true. And after all, she had 7 little test cases to experiment on!
I ate a lot of broccoli when I was pregnant. When we started solids with my daughter she rejected all of the infant cereals, so we decided to move to veggies, starting with broccoli. She LOVED it, it was the first food she actually enjoyed and wanted more. Makes sense now.
My mom ate Cool Ranch Doritos constantly while pregnant. This has to be true because I love those things. I actually am eating some right now! I think since they have a lot of garlic flavor that could explain why almost every food I cook has loads of garlic in it. Don't worry I brush my teeth a lot. ;)
My Mom used to make 2-3 cups of hot mint tea every morning, especially during her 7 pregnancies. We used to BEG for it (super sweetened, of course) when we were sick as kids. I've always been a coffee drinker, but for some reason with this pregnancy i've been totally turned off by it. I've suddenly morphed into my Mother with the morning mint tea! I see a family trend.
Being English (despite living in America) I have an affinity for Indian food. I ate Indian food twice weekly while I was pregnant... My daughter was eating curries before age one with no issue- she still loves them.
My Mum ate a lot of liquorice, I believe. That's definitely something that passed on!
Hot Tamales and those tiny cinnamon chewies...she scarfed them when she was pregnant with me, and I love sweet-spiciness in ANYTHING. I wonder if that's my love of chewies, too...
Great, one more thing to feel guilty about. I love my vegetables normally, but couldn't hack anything green while I was pregnant. Cut to my six month old turning up her nose at green beans and peas. But mommy loves green beans! See?!! Mmmm. Delicious beeeeeeans! *sigh*
My mom ate pickled pigs feet when she was pregnant with both of us. It was the only time she has ever touched them in her life. Thankfully, I did not inherit that taste... yet... we'll see what happens if/when I have children! o_O
I craved spicy mexican food and my now two year old has liked hot foods almost since she started on solids.
I was so lucky during both pregnancies with regard to food. I never had any taste or smell intolerances and read a pregnancy book that talked about whether or not you could really eat sushi, spicy food, etc. So, I ate whatever I liked. And now I have two kids who love spicy foods, weird textures, bizarre fruits, sushi, and veggies. Of course, we go old school with the clean your plate stuff too, so maybe that helps as well. Anyway, after enduring all the old wives' fear-mongering I just feel vindicated! :) (But nothing against y'all that did differently from me, do what makes you comfortable in pregnancy I say).
can also vouch that this is probably true. i ate a lot of cantaloupe, chocolate & icy treats, and son now also loves them...
My number one craving in pregnancy (right now and my first) was lemonade. And my 2 year old daughter loves lemons - she'll eat one just like an orange if I let her. I wonder if this next one will like lemons too...
My experience completely contradicts this! I craved milk, cheese and milk products when I was pregnant and have eaten a banana every single morning for the last 10 years of my life...my 17 month old HATES all milk products and cannot stand bananas. Maybe she had too much in utero???