Why can’t children and vegetables live together in peace?

Vegetables are usually at a disadvantage compared to other foods. First of all, they are relatively low in calories and therefore have fewer perceptible physiological effects, such as satiety. Next, most vegetables are not very sweet, and some also have compounds with a slightly bitter or sulfurous taste (spinach, fennel, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc.). The sensitivity of kids to these molecules depends on their perception of bitterness.

Finally, kids’ rejection of vegetables is also often linked to a lack of diversity. Just because a child rejects grated carrots does not mean that she won’t enjoy cooked carrots or raw tomatoes. That is why it is important to encourage kids, who are in the middle of developing their dietary preferences, to eat a variety of vegetables repeatedly.

The Louis Bonduelle Foundation offers tips likely to get children to open their mouths for a plateful of vegetables in its file, “How to Get Children to Like Vegetables”.