Your Baby's Tastebuds May Be Developed in Womb

Pregnant women can shape their unborn child's palates

Pregnant women can influence their unborn children's food preferences later in life, according to researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

The flavors of what the mom has eaten fills the amniotic fluid which surrounds the baby.

"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," Julie Mennella, a researcher at Monell, told National Public Radio.

This new study can help push first lady Michelle Obama's initiative to get kids to eat healthy. If mothers can influence their children to eat healthy before they are born, obesity rates could possibly change among our nation's kids.

The  2009  national  Youth  Risk  Behavior  Survey  indicates  that  among  U.S.  high  school  students:

Obesity
• 12%  were  obese 

Unhealthy  Dietary  Behaviors
• 78%  ate  fruits  and  vegetables  less  than  five  times  per  day  during  the  7  days  before  the  survey. 
• 66%  ate  fruit  or  drank  100%  fruit  juices  less  than  two  times  per  day  during  the  7  days  before  the  survey.
• 86%  ate  vegetables  less  than  three  times  per  day  during  the  7  days  before  the  survey. 
• 29%  drank  a  can,  bottle,  or  glass  of  soda  or  pop  at  least  one  time  per  day  during  the  7  days  before  the  survey.