Eat the Broccoli!
Although there are some children who like broccoli – Yep! They do exist! -, as we well know, most refuse Brassica vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts). Research conducted by the CSIRO published in 2021 found one more reason children usually don’t like broccoli and its cousins from the Brassica family – as if kids needed another one!
They found out that the foul-smelling gases produced by bacteria in the mouth that feed on those veggies' chemicals put children off as it reminds of the smell of fart and decaying dead animals bodies. (1)
Another reason is the bitter taste. There's evidence that we instinctively avoid bitter tasting foods because most toxic substances do taste bitter. (2)
A third reason for children to take long years to learn how to like those bitter tasting veggies is a cultural one: weaning babies are offered mostly sweet foods or a mix of sweet and bitter foods, like apple sauce added to broccoli to mask bitterness. (3) This practice prevents children from being exposed to bitter taste early in life which consequently delays their familiarity with such foods and hinder their appreciation of them. (4)
CHILDREN CAN LEARN TO LIKE BROCCOLI
We are not born knowing how and what to eat. Eating is a learned skill. This is good news because it means that our palates can be “trained” to like any food, including bitter foods.
The evidence that this can be achieved is that, in the study conducted by the CSIRO, parents of children with high sensibility to bitterness, whom also displayed high sensibility to bitter taste, were less averse to cauliflower than their children. (1) This suggests that we can learn to accept foods and tastes that we once disliked.
A key strategy to help children learn how to like Brassica vegetables is to introduce them as early as possible, along with the child’s first foods. The sooner children become familiar with these vegetables, the sooner they’ll stop fussing about them. (4)
Another one is to offer it paired with other already-liked foods such as cheese, for example, as Dr. Emma Beckett suggested in an article for ABC News. (5) Then you can “phase the cheese out” gradually and leave just the broccoli when the child’s palate is enough acquainted with it.
Also, in my interactions with children, I observed that they like the stems better than the florets. The stems are indeed sweeter than the florets. So, why not make use of the stems to train children’s palate to the brassicas? You may want to try this fritter recipe that uses only the stems. You can even waste less food and save money.
But nothing beats role-modelling when it comes to teaching children to eat the foods we want them to eat. Children learn a lot from observing the grown-ups they trust and, if they see those people enjoying broccoli, it increases the chances of them giving it a try, earlier than they would with a more controlling approach. (6)
Read more about role-modelling healthy eating habits to children.
references
(1) In-Mouth Volatile Production from Brassica Vegetables (Cauliflower) and Associations with Liking in an Adult/Child Cohort (Study, 2021, Australia) https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jafc.1c03889
(2) Measuring Sweet and Bitter Taste in Children: Individual Variation due to Age and Taste Genetics (Study, 2018, USA) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128117163000014#bb0630
(3) Nutrition and packaging characteristics of toddler foods and milks in Australia (Study, 2020, Australia) https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/nutrition-and-packaging-characteristics-of-toddler-foods-and-milks-in-australia/1C6BA80843B773FC058BD3087D1A22BA
(4) Savouring Sweet: Sugars in Infant and Toddler Feeding (Study, 2017, USA) https://karger.com/anm/article-abstract/70/Suppl.%203/38/42392/Savoring-Sweet-Sugars-in-Infant-and-Toddler
(5) Kids' perception of broccoli and cauliflower may be influenced by the bugs in their mouth (Article, 2021, Australia) https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-09-23/broccoli-cauliflower-dislike-flavour-oral-microbiome-kids/100477838
(6) Influence of parental attitudes in the development of children eating behaviour (Study, 2008, Italy) https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/influence-of-parental-attitudes-in-the-development-of-children-eating-behavior/20F431E346074B8255585DACAD7BA109
