Lola brought us a while ago a study that pointed out that babies have a preference for certain foods even before birth, since in the womb they get used to the flavors of what mothers eat and that reach them through the amniotic fluid.
Of course, this also implies a taste for less healthy food, if the mother is used to it, which can influence future obesity in children. On this occasion, a study published by the British Journal of Nutrition states that bad nutritional habits of the children may be conditioned by what their mothers ate during pregnancy.
In the same way that mothers who eat such unhealthy foods while breastfeeding can negatively influence their children's weight. The study has been conducted with rats that were given "junk food", but researchers believe the results can be applied in the same way to humans. According to the director of the study, Stephanie Bayol,
"Consuming large amounts of junk food during pregnancy or breastfeeding can affect normal appetite control and encourage an excessive fondness for that type of food in children."
The rats that were given a diet rich in chips, fats, salt and sugar during these phases gave birth to young animals that also abused unhealthy foods. The offspring of these mothers were born with a lower than average weight, but after 10 weeks after weaning, his body mass was considerably higher than normal.
So, just in case, remember the importance of a healthy and balanced diet, especially during pregnancy. We are looking for the health of babies.
