Do you know that our taste buds can develop over time? As children, we can train our taste buds by exposing them to different foods. Over time we develop liking for certain healthy foods. This way we can expand our palette and add many new foods to our diet. If we introduce a healthy diet, full of delicious fruit and vegetables from an early age we can develop our taste buds to like many different nutritious foods as we grow older.
There is lots of evidence to show that the more we taste a food, the more we learn to like it. It can range from from just a few tastes of a food, to 15 or more tries to learn to like something. It ranges per individual child and it also depends on the type of food. That is why the Food Dudes programme gives every child an opportunity to try a new fruit and vegetable at least 4 times, over the course of the Food Dudes programme. This ensures that everyone gets the opportunity to learn to like new varieties of fruits and vegetables.
The opportunity to develop likening for foods decreases as we age,it can take an adult 12-14 tastes of a food to train their taste buds to like something new. This is why it is so important to expose and encourage children to have a healthy diet from birth through to adulthood. This week let’s take a look at tips and tricks to encourage children to try new foods.
The Food Dudes Healthy Eating Programme is managed by Bord Bia in Ireland and is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with support from the European Union under the School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme. The programme was first developed by the Food Activity Research Unit, School of Psychology at Bangor University, Wales. Copyright © 2004 © 2009 © 2013 Bangor University. University.