LONDON (Reuters) - Pregnant women rejoice. Eating chocolate is good for the baby, say Finnish researchers.
Scientists at the University of Helsinki, who asked 300 pregnant women to record their chocolate consumption and stress levels, found that daily treats had a positive impact on the baby's behavior.
Six months after the
infants were born, the mothers who had eaten chocolate reported more
reactions such as smiling and laughter in their offspring."And the babies of stressed women who had regularly consumed chocolate showed less fear of new situations than babies of stressed women who had abstained," New Scientist magazine said on Tuesday.
Katri Raikkanen and her colleagues who conducted the research admitted they can't be certain that chocolate consumption and the babies' behavior are not linked with other factors.
"But they speculate that the effects they observed could result from chemicals in chocolate associated with positive mood being passed on to the baby in the womb," the magazine added.
Source: New Scientist