It's never too early to start kids on the road to a healthy eating habit that includes vegetables, British researchers say, and they should be offered to them often.
The younger the age that vegetables are offered in their meals the more likely it is they'll develop a taste for them and a willingness to consume and enjoy them, scientists at the University of Leeds say.
The key is to begin the introduction early and often, says Marion Hetherington at the university's Institute of Psychological Sciences.
Even a child who is a picky eater will eat some of a vegetable if it's introduced to them for five or 10 times, she said.
In a study, 332 children in Britain, Denmark and France -- some as young as four months -- were offered between five to 10 servings of artichoke puree.
Forty percent of them learned to like artichoke, the researchers reported, and one five completely cleared their plates of the puree.
Some children got the puree straight, while some were offered a version sweetened with additional sugar.
The study results showed little difference in how much was consumed over the period of the research between those fed a basic puree and children offered a sweetened one, dispelling a commonly-held belief that vegetables need to have their tastes masked before children will eat them, the researchers said.
Younger children are the best targets for developing a taste for vegetables, Hetherington said.
"If they are under two they will eat new vegetables because they tend to be willing and open to new experiences," she said.
At around age two children grow reluctant to try new things and will start to reject foods, even may they've previously liked, she said.
"Children do become more fussy between two and six years of age because they become 'neo-phobic': wary or cautious around new foods," Hetherington said.
Artichokes were chosen as the study vegetable because parents reported it was one they were least likely to cook or offer to their children, the researchers said,
The study, funded by the European Union and published in the journal PLOS ONE, could be useful to parents desiring to encourage their young children to develop good lifetime dietary choices, Hetherington said.
"For parents who wish to encourage healthy eating in their children, our research offers some valuable guidance," she said. "If you want to encourage your children to eat vegetables, make sure you start early and often."
