Prenatal Manipulation of Food Preferences

Supervisors: Dr Jacqueline Wallace, Dr Steven Brown and Professor Julian Mercer

Infants have an inborn preference for sweet and umami flavours and dislike sour and bitter, but there is evidence that sensory experiences beginning early in development can modify these preferences in favour ultimately of healthier food choices. Babies are first exposed to flavour in utero and then later through breast/formula milk. This can be manipulated to influence liking and consumption of individual foods with specific high-intensity flavours postnatally (1-4). There are no prospective studies evaluating the impact of increasing maternal fruit and vegetable intake during late pregnancy on a child’s subsequent acceptance of fruit and vegetables, particularly those with a sour/bitter taste. The hypothesis is that an intervention to increase maternal intake of fruit and vegetables in late pregnancy will enhance fetal flavour exposure and make infants more likely to consume a wide variety of fruit and vegetables in childhood. The project aims to develop a range of innovative and palatable presentation formats for our most pungent fruit and vegetables and use these to improve maternal dietary variety in late pregnancy in the intervention arm of a prospective study. Food preference and taste acceptance will be assessed in infants and any lasting impact on the dietary choices of mothers determined.