5 Ways to Cultivate Healthy Food Preferences in Young Children

Most parents want to raise children who like — and even prefer — nutritious food. Often, however, children want to eat the same foods day in and day out, and parents struggle to get their kids to eat a variety of healthy foods.

What parents usually don’t know is that flavor preferences, particularly for nutritious foods, are learned.

By age 5, researchers believe that food preferences are largely set. Although an individual can learn to like a new food anytime in life, most of what we prefer to eat is learned and molded in the early years of childhood.

To cultivate a preference for a wide variety of foods, there are some key things parents can do.

[See: What 10 Nutritionists Learned About Cooking From Their Moms.]

Eat a Varied Diet During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the food flavors a mother consumes are transmitted to the baby through the amniotic fluid. Amniotic fluid has a sweet taste, but it also carries other flavors such as garlic, licorice (anise), onion and caraway. As such, babies are born already familiar with these flavors, especially sweet and savory tastes. Bitter and sour flavors are unfamiliar, however, and may be more challenging for baby to accept. Mothers can help their babies be ready for new food flavors by eating a balanced and diverse diet during pregnancy that includes spices, aromatics and other seasonings.

Breast-feed if You Can

Breast milk transports different flavors much like amniotic fluid does. Several studies suggest babies who are breast-fed are more accepting of a variety of flavors, including vegetables, and may be less likely to be picky eaters.

Other research suggests that babies who are breast-fed are more willing to accept a new food the first time it’s offered than their formula-fed counterparts. One explanation for this difference is that breast milk includes complex, changing flavors that reflect the mother’s diet, while infant formula has a singular, unchanging flavor profile.

Even more research suggests babies who are breast-fed for at least six months are less likely to require specific food preparation methods, reject food or experience food neophobia — or a fear of new food — which commonly shows up in toddlerhood.

Start Solids With Flavorful Food

Research suggests offering babies a diverse range of foods when they start solids may help them accept new foods later. For instance, a 2014 study in the journal Appetite showed that offering a single vegetable (carrots) versus offering a three-veggie blend ( zucchini, parsnip and sweet potatoes) made a difference in babies’ willingness to accept and eat a new food (pea puree). The babies who received the single veggie ate less of the pea puree than the babies who received the blend of vegetables.

A 2015 study appearing in the British Journal of Nutrition systematically introduced a different veggie each day for five days in a row, then repeated that cycle three times. The result? Babies were more inclined to like new food.

Other research emphasizes the importance of establishing an early acceptance of fruits and vegetables as it may lead to higher acceptance of these nutritious staples, particularly vegetables, later.

[See: Starting Solids With Your Baby? Avoid These 8 Mistakes.]

Start Solids on Time

Even the timing of starting solids seems to matter. Generally, babies should start solids around 6 months of age when they show signs of developmental readiness, such as interest in others’ food, sitting up with little assistance and good head control. Research suggests that babies who begin solids before 6 months are two and a half times more likely to be food neophobic, while those who start solids after 6 months may be less picky and perhaps more adventurous with food.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Babies reject new food. It’s part of the learning curve when beginning solids. It’s hard to be persistent when babies do this, but that’s exactly what parents need to do, especially with vegetables. Veggies are naturally bitter. Babies need to learn to like them, and this happens through repeated exposure, when they receive them often.

In a 2016 study published in PLOS One, researchers investigated the long-term effects of offering a variety of vegetables during the period between 5 months and six years. They found that introducing a variety of vegetables early and persistently offering them — even when they were disliked or rejected — helped children learn to like them over time.

In the study, researchers offered rejected vegetables eight subsequent times and saw an increased acceptance lasting for several years. For instance, at 15 months, 79 percent of children still liked the previously rejected vegetables. At 3 years, 73 percent still liked them, and at 6 years, 57 percent still liked them and were more adventurous and willing to try new foods.

[See: 10 Concerns Parents Have About Their Kids’ Health.]

Many researchers emphasize that repeatedly offering new foods and even rejected foods is one of the most powerful tools in helping young children develop a preference for them. Ironically, research also informs us that more than 90 percent of parents only offer refused foods about three to five times, then give up. For your kids’ sake, it’s important to buck that trend — and keep offering them a variety of healthy foods, so they can grow to enjoy them.