Babies in the Womb Smile When Their Moms Eat Carrot but Cry Over Kale Flavor, UK Study Finds

(Courtesy of FETAP (Fetal Taste Preferences) Study, Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, Durham University.)

To some parents, it surely comes as no surprise: Babies in the womb can express delight and displeasure on their faces in correlation to the flavors their moms consume, a UK study found.

Using coded 4-D ultrasound scans, researchers identified complex facial movements in babies who were subjected to carrot (a sweet vegetable) and kale (a bitter vegetable) and confirmed their hypothesis to be correct: fetuses subjected to carrots showed more smiles; those subjected to kale showed more cry faces. Fetal facial movements were measured frame by frame, revealing reactions to maternal ingestion.