Babies could inherit sweet tooth in the womb
25 Feb Daily Telegraph
Babies could inherit a taste for certain foods from their mothers
while still in the womb, researchers believe.
A study by French scientists shows that newborns can recognise aromas
they have been exposed to during the final days of gestation. It
suggests that a mother's dietary choices could alter the way their
baby's sensory system develops and influence their taste before they are
even born.
Researchers from the European Centre for Taste Science in Dijon
tested 24 babies, half of whose mothers had eaten biscuits laced with
aniseed in the ten days leading up to birth. Experiments carried out
hours after birth and again four days later showed that the infants
whose mothers had eaten the biscuits could recognise, and appeared to
enjoy, the smell of aniseed. Speaking at the American Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, Dr
Benoist Schaal said the aroma of aniseed would have been passed through
the baby's nose in their mother's amniotic fluid before they were born.
Compounds in the fluid could have stimulated and helped shape sensors
in the foetus's nose and implanted a memory for the smell in their
developing brain. He said: "During pregnancy a woman is relatively
permeable to her environment and what a mother takes in, in a certain
dose, also goes to the foetus." This happens "during a period when the
brain is being formed, so probably with long-term consequences," he
added.
Tests showed that just three hours after birth most babies who had
been exposed to aniseed in the womb would lean towards a swab containing
the odour, while those who had not would either pull a disgusted face
and turn away or not react at all. Another experiment in which a swab of
aniseed and a "control" swab of another aroma were placed on either side
of the babies' heads showed that the aniseed-exposed group leant
overwhelmingly towards the scent while the other babies showed no
preference.
The test was carried out hours after birth and repeated four days
later, with the same results. Our sense of smell directly influences the
way we taste our food, Dr Schall explained. He said: "In general when we
appreciate a food we say it is the taste of the food, but in general it
is really the odour of the food. "When you seperate the effect of taste
and odour is when you have flu, and you taste a good wine - it is bland,
there is nothing." Separate studies have shown that a baby's taste could
also be affected by aromas in their mother's breast milk. Babies whose
mothers who used a camomile balm when beginning to breastfeed were more
attracted to it even when tested 21 months after birth. German
researchers also found that people who were born before 1992 - when the
country stopped its practice of adding vanilla to all formula milk -
preferred the flavour in adulthood. When given the choice of two
ketchups, one of which included a tiny hint of vanilla, adults born
before 1992 preferred the scented version while younger people chose the
regular one.
If confirmed by further studies, the findings could help shape health
policy, Dr Schall said. Encouraging pregnant and lactating women to eat
more fruit and vegetables, for example, could transfer a taste for
healthy foods to their children, he said.
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