Development of food variety in children - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Appetite Année : 2009

Development of food variety in children

Résumé

Eating a variety of foods is essential to achieve adequate coverage of macro- and micronutrient needs. We expose here how eating habits for a variety of foods develop in childhood, from early infancy on. Preferences for specific flavours might develop early, through milk-related flavour exposures. Breastfeeding favours the acquisition of a taste for a variety of foods. At introduction of solid foods, food preferences develop thanks to repeated exposures to a variety of foods. The persistence of these early influences is still unknown. During the third year of life, most children enter a neophobic phase during which previously liked foods are no longer accepted and introduction of new foods becomes difficult. However, habits of eating a variety of foods acquired before the neophobic phase track further on into childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. This underlines the importance of promoting the access to a variety of foods in early childhood. However, beyond the nutritional advantage of eating a varied diet, could this present any drawbacks? Providing a variety of foods generally stimulates food intake and thereby might favour obesity. More research is needed to understand the link between variety and obesity, which might be food-group dependant.

Dates et versions

hal-02668196 , version 1 (31-05-2020)

Identifiants

Citer

Sophie Nicklaus. Development of food variety in children. Appetite, 2009, 52 (1), pp.253-255. ⟨10.1016/j.appet.2008.09.018⟩. ⟨hal-02668196⟩
5 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More