“Diet is important but digestion is everything and I think it is better to preserve the mother’s and babies digestion rather than over complicate the system”

The study follows previous researcher by the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadephia, which also discovered that preferred taste is determined before babies leave the womb.

Food, particularly sweet tasting foodstuff, diffuses through the amniotic fluid predetermining their liking for sweet things. However, in contrast, bitter tastes don’t transfer through to the baby.

“Things like vanilla, carrot, garlic, aniseed, mint — these are some of the flavours that have been shown to be transmitted to amniotic fluid or mother’s milk,” Julie Mennella from the Monell Chemical Senses Center said in a statement.

Another study, this time on rats, by the Royal Veterinary College of London discovered that a mother’s diet of junk food could lead to them having children with sweet tooth’s – and at higher risk of diabetes and obesity later in life.

Researchers found that women who use pregnancy as an excuse to ‘eat for two’ and indulge in junk food may be putting their unborn baby at risk, as exposure to fatty, salty foods in the womb can have long-lasting effects on the part of the brain that controls appetite.

“Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promote an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring,” Dr Stephanie Bayol, from the study, said in a statement.

“This could send the offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging.”

Pregnant women are being warned to watch what they eat during their pregnancy..