With strategy, patience and creativity, kids might eat, and even like vegetables

Letting children choose which veggies to eat could help them integrate those foods into their diet. — AFP

EVERY mealtime, it’s the same story: they pull a face, they cross their arms, and they keep their mouth firmly shut. Whether it’s cauliflower, turnip or green beans, those vegetables aren’t going in

For many years, science has been investigating how to get young children to eat and even like vegetables. In 2005, France’s INRA, CNRS and Université de Bourgogne – home to the specialist Centre for Taste and Feeding Behavioyr (CSGA) – launched a vast study evaluating the period during which kids develop their food preferences, between weaning and the age of two.