Kenneth Glad
A familiar family struggle may have roots earlier than mealtimes. New research points to pregnancy as a possible stage where future food responses begin to form.
Children may be more receptive to the smell of vegetables they were exposed to before birth, according to a new study.
The research should be read carefully. Its latest follow-up involved only 12 children at age three, so the findings are early rather than conclusive, writes The Guardian..
Still, the results add to a growing interest in how maternal diet during pregnancy may influence a child’s later reactions to food.
For parents, the idea is striking: The groundwork for accepting vegetables may begin long before a child sits in a high chair.
Researchers worked with pregnant women who were given capsules containing either carrot powder or kale powder. The use of capsules avoided asking participants to drink large amounts of vegetable juice.
The smell test
According to the newspaper, researchers tracked the children’s responses from pregnancy into early childhood. They first used ultrasound imaging to study fetal facial reactions, then repeated observations after birth.
At age three, the follow-up focused on scent. Cotton swabs carrying carrot or kale odor were used to see whether the children reacted more warmly to the vegetable they had encountered before birth.
Children exposed to carrot before birth appeared more positive toward carrot odor. Those exposed to kale showed a similar pattern with kale.
Prof Nadja Reissland of Durham University, the study’s lead author, said that one possible result could be “that you have a healthier population”.
What it may mean
The findings may matter because early food acceptance can shape family eating habits. Many parents spend years trying to persuade children to eat vegetables, often through disguise, bargaining or repeated offerings.
This study suggests that familiarity may start earlier, although it does not prove that prenatal exposure alone will change a child’s diet.
Reissland told The Guardian: “What we see over time is that the children are still more favourable to vegetables they were exposed to while they were in the womb. From this we can suggest that being exposed to a particular flavour in late pregnancy can result in long-lasting flavour or odour memory in children, potentially shaping their food preferences years after birth.”
She did, however, stress the limits of the work, saying a much larger study is needed.
More research needed
The project included researchers from the UK, France and the Netherlands, including Cambridge and Aston universities. Dr Beyza Ustun-Elayan of the University of Cambridge said:
“These findings open up new ways of thinking about early dietary interventions, suggesting that flavours from the maternal diet during pregnancy may quietly shape children’s responses to foods years later.”
Dr Benoist Schaal of France’s National Centre for Scientific Research said the study supports the idea that fetuses can detect flavors linked to food eaten during pregnancy.
For now, the research raises questions rather than offering firm advice. It points to a possible connection between pregnancy diet and later food response, but larger studies will be needed before health guidance can be built around it.
Sources: The Guardian, study by Nadja Reissland et al: Flavor learning and memory in utero
