'Laughter-face' for carrots, 'cry-face' for kale: Babies in womb react to what their mothers eat, study finds

A new study published Thursday says that babies in the womb react differently to different foods. While they are big fans of carrots, they do not like leafy green vegetables, and it shows in their faces. Researchers at Durham University in northeast England said the findings were the first direct evidence that babies react differently to various smells and tastes before they are born.

A team of scientists studied 4D ultrasound scans of 100 pregnant women and discovered that babies exposed to carrot flavours showed "laughter-face" responses. Those exposed to kale flavours in contrast showed more "cry-face" responses.

Mothers were scanned at 32 and 36 weeks pregnancy to see foetal facial reactions.They were given a single capsule containing approximately 400mg of carrot or 400mg kale powder around 20 minutes before each scan and avoided eating anything with a flavour for an hour beforehand.

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Facial reactions seen in both groups showed that exposure to just a small amount of carrot or kale flavour was sufficient to stimulate a response.

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Lead postgraduate researcher Beyza Ustun was quoted as saying by AFP, "A number of studies have suggested that babies can taste and smell in the womb, but they are based on post-birth outcomes while our study is the first to see these reactions prior to birth."

"As a result, we think that this repeated exposure to flavours before birth could help to establish food preferences post-birth, which could be important when thinking about messaging around healthy eating and the potential for avoiding 'food-fussiness' when weaning."

Foetuses are believed to learn about flavours and smells through inhaling and swallowing the amniotic fluid in the womb.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, included scientists from Durham's Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab and Aston University in Birmingham, central England. A team from the National Centre for Scientific Research in Burgundy, France, was also involved.

The teams believe the findings could deepen understanding of the development of human taste and smell receptors as well as perception and memory.

Research co-author Professor Jackie Blissett, of Aston University, said, "It could be argued that repeated prenatal flavour exposures may lead to preferences for those flavours experienced postnatally."

"In other words, exposing the foetus to less 'liked' flavours, such as kale, might mean they get used to those flavours in utero."

(With inputs from agencies)