Getting kids to eat healthy foods — especially fruits and vegetables — has become a battle cry in the North American fight against obesity.
Now, researchers are providing parents with more information that might allow for a pre-emptive strike, suggesting that preferences for certain foods can be formed early, and women who eat healthy foods while pregnant and lactating could already be giving their offspring a taste for what's good for them.
Furthermore, they say that as solids are being introduced, parents shouldn't give up right away if the baby doesn't appear to like a particular healthy food.
A study published earlier this week in the journal Pediatrics, and funded in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, found that repeated exposure to a food — in this case, pureed green beans — resulted in greater consumption.
The study by Catherine Forestell, who received a CIHR research postdoctoral fellowship, and Julie Mennella, a biopsychologist, was conducted at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.
Researchers studied 45 infants, 44 per cent of whom were breastfed. One group was fed green beans and the other group was fed green beans and then peaches at the same time of day for eight consecutive days.
"And lo and behold, what we found is that the breastfed babies ate more of the peaches," Mennella said in an interview from Philadelphia.
"And when we looked at what their mothers were eating, these mothers were eating more fruits in general, so it's kind of quite a beautiful system. The babies were learning about these foods, and it conferred an advantage when they first tasted the foods."
The findings build on previous research published in the journal in 2001. That study included a control group, a group of women who drank a lot of carrot juice during their last trimester of pregnancy and a group that drank a lot of carrot juice while lactating.
"If the baby experienced the flavour of carrot in amniotic fluid or in mother's milk when they first ate carrot-flavoured cereal, they ate more of it and they made less negative faces while eating it," Mennella said.
Breakfast a good time to introduce healthy foods
Dr. Jennifer Shu, co-author of "Food Fights," a book published by the American Academy of Pediatrics on the nutritional challenges of parenthood, says she's not surprised by the latest findings.
"What the study shows us is that having repeated exposures both while mom is pregnant and breastfeeding and later when the baby is taking solid foods, all of these repeated exposures can add up to an acceptance of and tolerance for healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables," she said from Atlanta.
Dr. Glen Ward, a pediatrician in Surrey, B.C., and a member of the board of the Canadian Paediatric Society, said the message of repeated exposures makes a lot of sense.
"It's affirmation of the common-sense things that I've been saying to people for years," he said. "Basically babies will often need repeated exposures to new foods, new flavours in order to generate an interest or a like for them."
He also offered some of his own advice that worked with his children: have them consume new foods by offering them first thing in the morning when they're hungry.
"It works really well, because in addition to the repeated exposure concept, you're optimizing the time of introduction," he said. "When a child is hungry they're more likely to accept things."
Related
More Health Headlines »
- Massive survey examining health, toxic chemical levels of Canadians to begin
- A groundbreaking national health survey to discover what kinds of toxic chemicals are in Canadians' bodies, as well as examining other health issues such as obesity, will begin in B.C. in the coming days.
- Brisk walking regime can alleviate stress in menopausal women
- Menopausal women who suffer from stress, anxiety or depression can benefit from undertaking a regular walking routine, new research suggests.
- Cocaine vaccine in development in U.S.
- Two U.S. researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug.
- Kids' stomach remedies contaminated with microbes: Health Canada
- Health Canada is advising consumers not to use two natural health products to treat digestive upset in children because of contamination.
- Drug makers spend more on marketing than research: study
- U.S. drug companies spend almost twice as much on marketing and promoting medications than on research and development, a new Canadian study says.
Health Features
Blog Watch
Most Blogged about CBC.ca Articles
Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - link will open in new window
