NewsAnchorMom.com reader Sara sent me this NPR article and I am so glad she did. Well, I like being informed, but I guess I really just found out: it is totally my fault my kids aren't big veggie fans! New research shows what you eat when you are pregnant has an impact on what food your child likes. I am just not a big vegetable fan. I never have been. Some are better than others, but I rarely want to eat raw carrots or any other raw veggie for that matter. I just do it because: 1. it's there. 2. I want to eat something healthy. I did eat a ton of watermelon when I was pregnant with my first son and watermelon is one of his favorite foods! :)
Do you think your pregnancy taste buds influenced your child's diet?
Here's a snippet from the NPR article and a link:
FROM NPR: At 21 weeks after conception, a developing baby weighs about as much as a can of Coke — and he or she can taste it, too. Still in the womb, the growing baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid daily. That fluid surrounding the baby is actually flavored by the foods and beverages the mother has eaten in the last few hours.
"Things like vanilla, carrot, garlic, anise, mint — these are some of the flavors that have been shown to be transmitted to amniotic fluid or mother's milk," says Julie Mennella, who studies taste in infants at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. In fact, Mennella says there isn't a single flavor they have found that doesn't show up in utero. Her work has been published in the journal Pediatrics.
-NewsAnchorMom Jen