Babies, Parenting, Child Health, Infant Nutrition

Infant Nutrition – A Mother's Diet Influences her Baby's Acceptance of Food

12.10.2007 | 12:12:06 am | Posted by mummums

By Colleen Hurley, RD, Certified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist

Every parent secretly hopes their child will like fruits and vegetables and eat them without a struggle. According to a new study, you may be able to increase the odds of your child actually liking his veggies. New research reported in the December issue of the Journal of Pediatrics states that if you are breastfeeding, you can help create a taste for healthy foods in your infant by eating them yourself.

The study was designed to examine the influence of an infant’s sensory experiences on the development of healthy eating habits. Forty-five infants, 20 of whom were breastfed, were randomly placed into 2 groups. Each infant had no exposure to any solid food other than cereal. One group was fed strictly green beans and the other group was fed both peaches and green beans. The results? Breastfeeding encourages a baby’s acceptance of foods during weaning, but only if the mother regularly eats those foods.

It was revealed that the breastfed babies, when first exposed to peaches, ate for longer periods of time. Through questionnaires, researchers discovered this phenomenon occurred because the nursing mothers consumed more fruits than the non-nursing mothers. Researchers believe the increased acceptance of peaches was due to the fact that the breastfed infants had previous exposure to fruit flavors through breast milk. As well, the repeated opportunities for tasting green beans through breastmilk seemed to increase the infants’ direct intake of green beans threefold.

The researchers also discovered that a baby’s facial expression of wanting no more food didn’t always match their fullness. Just like adults, some babies have their own taste and will let you know whether they like a food or not.

In summary, breastfed babies can have an increased likelihood to try fruits and veggies, but only if the mother is eating them herself. However, just because your infant is drinking formula doesn’t mean she'll never eat fresh foods. As this study shows, your child may simply need to see a new food a few times before warming up to the taste of it.

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