Getting children to eat their vegetables starts in the womb, researchers suggest
Rather than bribery, or hiding carrots under ketchup, the key may be to expose foetuses to healthy flavoursIt is an age-old battle with small children that most parents will recognise: please, please, eat your vegetables.Some will read them books with titles such as The Boy Who Loved Broccoli.Others have been known to smother veg in tomato ketchup, or mix avocado and fruit with Greek yoghurt and call it icecream.Or resort to plain bribery.Now, a study suggests there may be a more effective approach – but mothers need to start early.
Researchers have discovered that young children are less likely to react negatively to the smell of vegetables that they were repeatedly exposed to before birth.The implications could be huge.Prof Nadja Reissland of Durham University, the study’s lead author, said a consequence would be “that you have a healthier population”.Researchers gave some pregnant women kale powder capsules and others were given carrot powder capsules.They then examined and coded the facial reactions of their child to carrot or kale.
This was first done before the baby was born, using ultrasound, then repeated when they were about three weeks old,Most recently, 12 children were observed age three,The images of a child exposed to carrots reacting positively to the smell of a cotton swab dipped in carrot and grimacing at the smell of kale speaks volumes,The reaction of the children exposed to kale was similar – they were happy to smell kale but not carrot,Reissland said the same patterns were repeated before birth, at three weeks and at three years.
“What we see over time is that the children are still more favourable to vegetables they were exposed to while they were in the womb.From this we can suggest that being exposed to a particular flavour in late pregnancy can result in long-lasting flavour or odour memory in children, potentially shaping their food preferences years after birth.”Reissland said the team had alighted on giving carrot and kale powder capsules after some of the pregnant women balked at drinking so much kale juice or carrot juice in the name of science.“Some of them said absolutely not.They were choking, couldn’t do it.
I mean, it was all really good juice, very expensive.”Reissland acknowledged that the research, funded by a grant from Aston University, in Birmingham, involved a small sample of mothers and children.“We really need to do a much bigger study and if we had the funding, we would.”She said it would not cost much to give vegetable powder capsules to pregnant women in the hope of having a healthier population.The idea could also be adapted to different cultures.
“I’ve just come back from Japan … where you get loads and loads of fish.It is a different type of healthy eating, but if you get the foetus used to that food, then in later life they might be much more interested in eating healthily.”The study included researchers at universities in France and the Netherlands as well as at Cambridge and Aston universities in the UK.One co-author, Dr Beyza Ustun-Elayan of the University of Cambridge, said: “These findings open up new ways of thinking about early dietary interventions, suggesting that flavours from the maternal diet during pregnancy may quietly shape children’s responses to foods years later.”.
Another co-author, Dr Benoist Schaal from the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research), in France, said: “This study confirms that human foetuses can sense the flavours of foods that pregnant mothers eat, which might affect what they will like for years after birth.Research is needed on other odorants and how they affect the foetus and child.”Reissland said there was still much to be learned about what affects the foetus, pointing to the presence of artificial sweeteners in so many products, including toothpaste.The paper, Do Human Fetuses Form Long-Lasting Chemosensory Memories? is published in the journal Developmental Psychobiology.
‘Hold the line’: Burnham tells allies in parliament he still has options to return
Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs they should hold the line and that he has options to return to parliament after several seats identified by his allies failed to materialise.Two seats that backers of the Greater Manchester mayor had described as “nailed on” as recently as Monday night are now out of contention after the MPs concerned got cold feet.Burnham spoke to a number of MPs by phone on Tuesday and assured them that he still intended to seek an imminent return to parliament.The Guardian was told by two MPs on Wednesday that Jeff Smith, who represents Manchester Withington, an affluent suburb of the city, was in talks about stepping aside for Burnham, but his friends denied it. Asked whether he was about to make way, Smith told the Press Association he was not
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Cross-border train journeys through several European countries are the stuff of many a holidaymaker’s dreams.But the reality of trying to buy the tickets, navigating multiple websites without knowing who can help if a connection is missed, can prove less than relaxing. As one MEP puts it, it can often require “five tabs, three apps and a prayer”.Now, however, the European Commission has proposed that before the end of the decade passengers should be able to buy one ticket for one journey and be better protected when trains are late or cancelled.“Europeans will be able with the click of a button to plan, compare and purchase multimodal journeys across borders while benefiting from stronger rail passenger rights, greater transparency and better protection every step of the way,” the EU transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said on Wednesday, as he published new rules intended to transform the “excessively complex” experience he said rail travellers met when booking tickets
What is the king’s speech and what is the state opening of parliament?
The king’s speech is the centrepiece of the state opening of parliament, the main ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar, and the only regular occasion when the three constituent parts of parliament – the sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons – meet. It marks the start of the new parliamentary year,Although delivered by the monarch in their constitutional role as the UK head of state, the speech is written by the government to outline its policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session. Formally called the “speech from the throne” because it is delivered from the throne of the House of Lords, the monarch reads it out in a neutral tone. Whatever their private feelings the monarch must not show any preference for any political party or its policies.The event is taking place as the prime minister, Keir Starmer, fights for his future in Downing Street after heavy losses in the 7 May elections
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Internet safety and children’s rights campaigners have accused Keir Starmer of failing to act on proposals to stop children sending and receiving nude images on their phones, after Jess Phillips resigned from the government saying she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”.The Labour politician was one of four ministers who quit on Tuesday and joined more than 80 MPs calling for the prime minister to go.In a coruscating letter she focused on a lack of urgency and boldness in tackling child abuse images, accusing Starmer of failing to take action to stop children being able to take or send naked pictures.She said: “Over a year ago I presented solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants, that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves.“We could stop this abuse
Are working-class voters lost to Labour for good? | Letters
It would be helpful for progressive parties and the media to focus more on why so many people voted for Reform UK. Your article (What’s behind surge in support for Reform and Greens across England? Five key takeaways, 10 May) indicates that it gained more support in deprived areas – but this doesn’t answer the question why.What sort of UK do Reform voters want? Do they want councils that reduce local care services for their vulnerable elderly relatives and children, to save a few pennies off council tax? The ending of environmental protections? The scrapping of equal-opportunities policies that protect women and minority groups?When Reform voters are asked about the party’s policies, they fail to articulate much apart from “stop the boats” – because Reform’s plans have very little detail or real‑world application.The Labour government has been in power for less than two years and has delivered the Renters’ Rights Act and the Employment Rights Act, removed the two-child cap on universal credit, increased provision of free school meals and facilitated millions more NHS appointments.The focus on personality-driven politics has left the door open for local governments to be led by privately educated multimillionaires who dismiss the climate crisis and favour cryptocurrency
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