Mother’s Breastmilk Can Teach Children to Eat their Fruit and Vegetables

People who send new mothers gift baskets of fresh fruit have the right idea.

The best time to start your children on fruit and vegetables is while you’re breastfeeding. New research shows that breastfeeding mothers who eat fruit and vegetables have children who eat fruit and vegetables.
When breastfeeding mothers regularly eat foods like beans and peaches, their babies are more likely to accept them during the weaning process says a study in the December 2007 issue Pediatrics.

“Babies are born with a dislike for bitter tastes,” says the study’s senior author Julie A. Mennella. “If mothers want their babies to learn to like to eat vegetables, especially green vegetables, they need to provide them with opportunities to taste these foods.”
The perfection of breastmilk as a start to a lifetime of healthy eating was emphasized in the study results.

“It’s a beautiful system,” says Dr. Mennella. “Flavors from the mother’s diet are transmitted through amniotic fluid and mother’s milk. So, a baby learns to like a food’s taste when the mother eats that food on a regular basis.”
The reasons for eating healthy foods while breastfeeding are numerous.

“Vegetable and fruit consumption is linked to lower risks of obesity and certain cancers,” says Mennella. “The best predictor of how much fruits and vegetables children eat is whether they like the tastes of these foods. If we can get babies to learn to like these tastes, we can get them off to an early start of healthy eating.”