There was some discussion about taste etc and i remembered that i got a handout from St Josephs or St Marys or KKI (funny, i see so many people i have no idea when i got this). Reference is Harris, 2000.
Birth – preference for sweet tastes (comment – breast milk is very sweet)
6 weeks – some self-regulation of calories
3 months – Begins to imitate adults
3-5 months – window of acceptance for new tastes
5-6 months – beginning of dev of neophobic response – dislike of new tastes
6 months – preference for other tastes based on exposure to that taste
9-12 months – sensitive period for textures
14 months – preferential imitation of adults
1 year – preference for foods based on exposure to that food; food is recognised by its appearance, likes to imitate adults
18months – relative neophobia – dislike new foods; preferential imitation of other children begins
4 years – food categorisation complete
Other comments on the text – theory that breastfed babies accept greater variety of food at 18months because they have been exposed to many more tastes andd smells through breastmilk
Most difficult taste to accept – bitter – like brocoli because it seems that many poisionous plants taste bitter (there was a really intereseting article in the Economist, i can look the edition, talking about a study of why people don’t like brocoli and it said that it is evolutionary and that there is some type of receptor that makes it too bitter for some people!!).
Acceptance of solid food appears largely dependent on exposure (they talk about 14 exposures before acceptance but i have heard different exposures)
That is it – this is from Eating and Drinking Difficulties in Children, a guide for practicioners (April Winstock)
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