Not ALL Children LOVE Sugary, Salty, Fatty Foods

Think ALL children are predisposed to preferring foods with sugar, salt and fat? Think again.

New Research shows:

• German and Spanish kids are twice as likely to prefer high fat foods than kids in Cyprus and Belgium.
• Hungarian, Spanish and Estonian children have a preference for fat, salt and umami (savory), espcially when compared to Swedish, Belgium and Italian children.
• German children are less likely to prefer sweet juice than Swedish, Italian and Hungarian children.

Want to know something else?

Country was the strongest predictor of taste preference.

That means, culture impacts taste preferences more than: 

• Breastfeeding vs formula
• Age at which fruit is introduced
• Television viewing
• Whether or not parents use food as a reward
• Taste sensitivity

Want to know something else?

There are kids who aren't familiar with apple juice.

The researchers couldn't test the sweet preferences of the children in Cyprus because these kids were unfamiliar with apple juice (and the researchers wanted to use a standard sweet medium across the study).

How'd they do it?

Researchers maniuplated the level of sugar in apple juice, and the level of salt, fat and umami in crackers. Then, 1705 six to nine year old children were given paired tastings and asked to indicate which of the pair they liked best.

The study was conducted in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary and Spain.

You don’t need to move across the world to solve a picky-eating problem. You just have to establish a foreign culture at home.

Forget about feeding the American way, and start seriously rethinking what, when and why you offer the foods that you do.  Read Food Culture and What It Means to be "Child-Friendly."

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

Source: Lanfer, A., K. Bammann, K. Knof, K. Buchecker, P. Russo, T. Veidebaum, Y. Kourides, S. de Henauw, D. Molnar, S. Bel-Serrat, L. Lissner, and W. Ahrens. 2013. “Predictors and Correlates of Taste Preferences in European Children: the IDEFICS Study.” Food Quality and Preference 27: 128-36.

Ignorance is Bliss: Why the French Eat Better Than We Do.

Never has a nation known so much about nutrition yet eaten so poorly.

This is basically my motto. Now there’s research to back me up.

A collaborative team of French, Canadian and American researchers surveyed people in each of their respective countries to find out how much they know about dietary fats.

• Americans know the most.
• The French know the least.
• The Canadians are more like the Americans than the French. 

And you know the rest: The obesity rate in the United States is 3 times higher than it is in France.

Perhaps ignorance really is bliss! Know Less: Eat Better.

The French are a whopping 10 times more ignorant than the Americans.

The researchers asked people to estimate the percentage of total fat in the following foods: butter, low-fat butter, whole milk, semi-skimmed milk, skimmed milk, margarine, olive oil and sunflower oil.  

Rather than hazard a guess, people were instructed to answer, "I don't know."  Overall:

• French respondents didn't know the answer to 43% of the questions.
• Canadian respondents didn't know the answer to 13% of the questions.
• American respondents didn't know the answer to 4% of the questions.

Among the people who thought they could estimate the percentage of fat in different foods, the American respondents were most likely to be correct.

In other words, we don't just think we know...we really do know.  Hurray for us.  (Am I the only one who thinks it's kind of ironic that we are a fat nation that knows a lot about fat?)

So here's a recap: The French provided the fewest answers and, among the particpants who provided an answer, the French received the worst scores.  The Americans provided the most answers, and received the best scores. The French are slim and trim, and we're...not.

It’s probably not a coincidence that the most knowledgeable people are also the worst eaters. 

An environment that stresses the nuances of nutrition—or, as I like to call it, Nutritional Noise—distracts people from seeing the BIG picture. 

Indeed, that's what the researchers speculate: 

“[I]n an environment of great technicality of nutritional information, consumers might lose sight of the “big picture” when it comes to nutritional information and become consumers of nutrients instead of food.  Because it places the focus on nutrients and individual products rather than on the global diet, the “nutrient approach” might further confuse consumers and result in questionable food choices.”

As far as I can tell, the French foster habits instead of nutritional knowledge.

And that's what it takes to eat right. Read Early Vegetable Variety: The French Advantage.

This is good news. Think about how much brain power you'll be able to free up by forgetting about nutrition. And how much better you'll be able to feed your kids.  Read: Slackers Rule and Why Nobody Needs Nutrition Labels.

Nutrition isn't the answer because eating right isn’t really about food, it’s about behavior — what, when, why and how much someone chooses to eat.  

Since nutrition only partially shapes those choices, especially for children, the key to success can never be found by focusing only on food.  Rather, you must shape how your children behave in relation to food.  This you accomplish by deliberately and consciously fostering their habits.

So give nutrition a break. And start feeding and eating the way the French do: Focus on habits. It's not just the healthy thing to do, it's the easy way to do it.

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

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Source: Saulais, L., M. Doyon, B. Ruffieux, and H. Kaiser. 2012. “Consumer Knowledge About Dietary Fats: Another French Paradox?” British Food Journal 114 (1): 108-20.

My Toddler Used to Eat Vegetables

My toddler used to eat vegetables…and then he stopped.

Makes you want to tear your hair out.  I know because I’ve been there.

Actually, we’ve all been there.  We’ve all had our once-happy-veggie-eaters turn into no-I’m-not-gonna-eat-that-and-there’s-nothing-you-can-do monsters.  It’s one of the most common frustrations parents have.

Well, there is something you can do.  Read on.

Many scholars believe toddlers have a natural impulse to reject foods because it keeps them alive.

Here’s the theory:

Toddlers are particularly vulnerable to eating poisonous foods because of two conditions: their newfound mobility frequently puts them out of momma’s protective reach, and they have a natural desire to put things into their mouths. Making toddlers reluctant to eat unfamiliar foods is Mother Nature’s way of solving this problem.  

I don’t buy it. 

1) This theory can’t explain why a child would reject a familiar food; one they've learned is not poisonous; one that’s already been cleared for consumption by mom.

2) Anyone who has ever been around a toddler knows these kids will put anything into their mouths—as long as it seems dangerous, weird, or something that would freak their parents out.  Dirt. Flowers. Legos.  But healthy vegetables? No way.

Here’s what I think (and it’s backed up by research).

Toddlers reject vegetables because other things taste better.

Of course control, developmental and personality issues also play a role. But answer this: How long after your child started eating solids did you switch from plain Cheerios to Honey Nut Cheerios?  

Or start serving up Brown Sugar Cinnamon Oatmeal instead of plain oatmeal? 

When did you trade in your child’s plain yogurt for vanilla, blueberry, or those delightful yogurt tubes? Introduce apple juice? Goldfish crackers? Chicken nuggets?

Around the time your child started rejecting vegetables?

Baby Food is bland, and it all—fruits, vegetables, cereals—taste basically the same.  In comparison, toddler food is full of flavor.  In fact, it gives kids a "flavor-hit."

Researchers recently discovered:

Kids who eat foods high in sugar, salt and fat—the basic “Child-friendly”  diet—end up seeking out these kinds foods in order to achieve a “flavor-hit.”  They’re going for the high!

Child-friendly foods may seem bland and boring to you, but these items are loaded with sugar, salt and fat. And kids like them!   Read The Truth About “Child-Friendly” Foods.

That’s probably why the old standby, pasta with butter and parmesan, is such a success:  Think salt and fat.

“Flavor-hit” foods train your kids to like junk (corn chips, not corn; cheese puffs, not cheese, and strawberry ice cream, not strawberries).  "Flavor-hit" foods never taste like broccoli.  (But they do taste like french fries!)

In other words, the basic “child-friendly” toddler diet trains your kids’ taste buds away from vegetables.  

The way to increase vegetable consumption—or to stop the downslide— is to consciously manage the flavors you feed your kids.

Don’t think about nutrients as much as flavors, and don't overload your kids with sugar, salt, and fat.  That was the message in my post Why Toddlers Don’t Eat Vegetables.

The reason is clear: Research shows that when kids eat a diet filled with sugar, salt, and fat they want more of these flavors.  It’s a self-perpetuating cycle, and manufacturers are happy to oblige.

Here are some posts to get you thinking about proportion and flavor:

• Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!
• 10 Ways Improving Your Kids’ Snacking Will Improve YOUR Life. 
• Training Tiny Taste Buds

~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~

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Source:  Cornwell, T. B. and A. R. McAlister. 2011. “Alternative Thinking About Starting Points in Obesity. Development of Child Taste Preferences.” Appetite 56: 428-39.

Update on July 5, 2011 by Dina Rose

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