Medical professionals have long been saying that poor eating habits develop during childhood, but now some are convinced that food preferences start to form in the womb.

Medical professionals have long been saying that poor eating habits develop during childhood, but now some are convinced that food preferences start to form in the womb.

Recent research suggests that mothers who eat a variety of foods while pregnant and breastfeeding have children who are more apt to try different edibles – including more vegetables - in their younger years.

That leads to developing a preference for a varied diet that carries through to adulthood.

The children of those who stuck with bland and narrow diets sought out a similarly narrow range of flavors.

The same researchers were also able to pinpoint crucial stages in the development of eating habits, be they for better or for worse.

Among the most important is before the three-and-a-half month mark, making one’s diet while breastfeeding particularly crucial.

Many of these findings were echoed in a separate study performed on rats.

In those experiments, the mother rats were fed lots of candy and cheese puffs while both pregnant and breastfeeding.

It was found early on that their babies were desensitized to sugary and fatty foods, requiring more of them to reach the point of being satisfied.