Even Kids Can Learn to Love Veggies
Exposure early and often helps develop a taste for healthy foods

(HealthDay News) -- Mashed peas might come flying back at you the first time your baby tries them, but don't give up: They just might be an acquired taste.

Researchers have found that tasting foods time and again helps youngsters learn to love fruits and vegetables. And a breast-feeding mom can even start exposing a child to new tastes by making sure that she eats a varied, healthful diet full of vegetables and fruits.

The findings came from a study of 45 babies that was published in the journal Pediatrics .

"When we looked at the first time these babies ate green beans and peaches, the breast-fed babies ate more of the peaches [than the formula-fed infants] and made less negative faces when they ate them," the study's senior author, Judith Mennella, a biopsychologist at the Monell Chemical Sense Center in Philadelphia, told HealthDay .

"The most likely reason why the breast-fed babies ate more peaches is they were already familiar with the flavor," Mennella said.

Her advice to future moms is to "eat the fruits and vegetables you enjoy while you are pregnant and lactating because your baby is going to be learning about those foods."

And when it's time to introduce foods into a baby's diet, "make sure you offer your baby opportunities to eat fruits and vegetables," Mennella said. "They need to taste them to learn to like them."

But what if a baby makes a face the first time he or she tastes a new food? Ignore it, suggested Mennella. "Even though they make these grimaces, when you offered the spoon again, the baby kept on eating," she said of the babies in her study.

The study included babies between 4 and 8 months old. Half of them ate green beans for eight consecutive days, and the other half got green beans and then peaches for eight days. The babies' diets were also observed for two days before and two days after the study.

Initially, all the babies made faces while they were eating. And, the group that was given peaches ate more calories from peaches than from green beans. But over the course of the study, babies in both groups started eating more green beans. Initially, the babies ate an average of about 2 ounces of green beans. After eight days, they were eating 3 ounces of green beans.

Breast-fed babies made fewer negative faces, which Mennella said means that they were already exposed to those flavors from their mothers' diets.

Lona Sandon, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and an assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, seemed to agree.

"The more variety a breast-feeding mother has in her diet, the more the infant is likely to accept a wide variety of foods," Sandon told HealthDay .

"The flavor of breast milk may change, depending on what the mother is eating," she said. "The breast-fed infant is then more accustomed to new flavors than a formula-fed infant. This could enhance their likelihood of trying and accepting new foods or flavors."

Connie Diekman, president of the American Dietetic Association and director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis , told HealthDay that "the fact that the best way to develop a taste for something is through multiple taste tests is something most parents don't know."

Diekman added, "I'd encourage parents to try small amounts of new foods, offer with encouragement, and re-offer for at least a week before deciding if the baby likes it or not."

And don't give up on the repeated exposure idea as children grow up. The Nemours Foundation reports that it's still a good idea to serve a variety of healthy foods and snacks to reinforce healthy eating habits -- and it's also important for parents to be good role models and eat healthy foods themselves.

On the Web

Learn more about child nutrition by visiting the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Julie A. Mennella, Ph.D., biopsychologist and member, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia; Lona Sandon, R.D., assistant professor of clinical nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; Connie Diekman, M.Ed., R.D., L.D., director of university nutrition, Washington University, St. Louis; Nemours Foundation (www.kidshealth.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: Nov. 30, 2008
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