Persistence is what will make your baby love fruit and vegetables

The repetition of exposure is one of the main determinants of food acceptance by children1. Infants who ate only small amounts of a vegetable the first time they were offered it, usually ate more in subsequent meals2. Repeated exposure to different types of fruit and vegetables is an efficient learning mechanism3-6, relatively easy to implement at home or at day care-centers.

 

      

1.    Nicklaus S. Children's acceptance of new foods at weaning. Role of practices of weaning and of food sensory properties. Appetite. 2011;57(3):812-815.
2.    Maier AS, Chabanet C, Schaal B, Issanchou SN, Leathwood PD. Effects of repeated exposure on acceptance of initially dislike vegetables in 7-months old infants. Food Quality and Preference. 2007;18(8):1023-1032.
3.    Caton S. Ahern S, Remy E, Nicklaus S, Blundell P, Hetherington M. Repetition counts: repeated exposure increases intake of a novel vegetable in UK pre-school children compared to flavour–flavour and flavour–nutrient learning. The British Journal of Nutrition.FirstView, doi:10.1017/S0007114512004126 (2012).
4.    de Wild V, de Graaf C, Jager G. Effectiveness of flavour nutrient learning and mere exposure as mechanisms to increase toddler’s intake and preference for green vegetables. Appetite. 2013;64:89-96.
5.    Hausner H, Olsen A, Møller P. Mere exposure and flavour–flavour learning increase 2–3 year-old children’s acceptance of a novel vegetable. Appetite. 2012;58(3):1152-1159.
6.    Remy E, Issanchou S, Chabanet C, Nicklaus, S. Repeated exposure of infants at complementary feeding to a vegetable purée increases acceptance as effectively as flavor-flavor learning and more effectively than flavor-nutrient learning. Journal of Nutrition. doi:10.3945/jn.113.175646.