Eating Fruit While Breastfeeding Encourages Healthy Eating Habits for Infants

Although common wisdom indicates that new mothers should introduce their babies to vegetables and fruits before other sweet things, new research suggests that fruit introduction should begin even earlier. New research indicates that if a mother eats fruits while breastfeeding, her infant will be more receptive to eating the foods. Eating a healthy diet while breatfeeding combined with introducing fruit and vegetables early when transitioning to solid foods should ensure that the baby is more receptive to eating healthfully.

"Vegetable and fruit consumption is linked to lower risks of obesity and certain cancers," said senior author Julie A. Mennella, PhD. "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."

The study included both breastfed and formula fed babies. In the study, one group of babies was given green beans each day for eight days, while the other group was given green beans and peaches each day for eight days. The babies were then tested to determine their acceptance of these foods.

The results of the study indicated that breastfed babies were more likely to be accepting of the foods introduced if their mothers were also eating the foods. The first day, babies who were breastfed ate much more peaches than their bottle fed components in the study. The study found that mothers who were breast feeding also ate more fruits than other mothers, causing the researchers to believe that the flavor of the fruit was transferred through the milk.

"It's a beautiful system," said 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."

For vegetables, the researchers found that exposure to green beans through breast milk did not give children an advantage when eating these foods. They believe that this is because of the bitter taste of vegetables. However, after the eight days of the study and repeated exposure to the green beans, all babies were more receptive to eating them. In fact, the babies ate three times the amount after eight days compared to the first day they were exposed to the food.

"Babies are born with a dislike for bitter tastes," explained 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."

Researchers also noted that an infant would make faces at the taste of the food, but that it was not necessarily indicative of whether or not the baby would consider consuming more of that food. The study encourages parents to disregard facial expressions, and instead offer fruits and vegetables until the baby refuses them. Source:

Monell Chemical Senses Center, "How to help baby like fruits and veggies", Eurekalert