Appetite: babies like the food their mothers ate at the end of pregnancy

Researchers from Durham University in the UK have found that newborns can respond positively to the smells of food they encountered in the womb. The results of the study are published in the journal Appetite.

The study involved three-week-old infants whose mothers regularly consumed cabbage or carrot powder late in pregnancy. An analysis of food preferences showed that infants whose mothers took carrot powder capsules reacted positively to the smell of carrots, while babies of mothers who took cabbage powder showed a similar reaction to the smell of that vegetable.

“This finding may mean that eating healthy foods, such as green vegetables, during pregnancy may help 'train' children to these foods,” the study authors note.

Experts also emphasize that, despite the established order of introducing sweet mashed potatoes to infants as complementary foods, children can also be given more useful, but bitter greens. Diversify the diet in this way will work if the desired products will be present in the diet of the future mother.

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