Cheryl Gregory How and Why Children Develop Food Preferences Children are our future.

The habits and skills they develop in their youth will help determine their success as adults. Today, we have a widespread problem of childhood obesity. These children will be at a higher risk for many health problems. According to the Surgeon General of the United States, 300,000 deaths per year are attributable to overweight and obesity. Obesity is a significant risk factor for heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes (Davis and Palladino, 220). With such high risks, it is important to look at the eating and dietary habits of todays children. In our culture, people believe that children dislike vegetables and so called healthy foods and that they favor sugars and sweets. It is important to look out how these dietary preferences are developed so that we are able to understand how to help children develop healthy eating habits. Children likely develop food preferences through a combination of inherent and environmental factors. People experience their food through taste, also known as gustation, which is a chemical sense that occurs with the help of smelling. There are inherent differences in the way people perceive or experience tastes. Humans have basic taste receptors for sweet, sour, metallic, bitter, salty, fat and umami (meat or protein receptor). These receptors are located on papillae, small bumps on the tongue and throat (Davis and Palladino, 102). People have varying amounts of papillae and therefore, taste foods at different intensities: the less papillae, the less intensely a person tastes their food. Also, taste preferences were probably developed as an evolutionary advantage to avoid harmful foods and to remember healthy or edible foods. Bitter-tasting substances are innately disliked, presumably because most bitter compounds are toxic. Plants have developed systems to protect themselves from being eaten, and plant-eating organisms have evolved sensory systems to avoid being poisoned. [On the other hand] sweet foods and beverages are highly preferred by plant-eating animals, probably because sweetness reflects the presence of caloric sugars, and may indicate non-toxicity (Hale, 2011). The innate proclivity for sugars and starches would lead children to choose sweet foods that are detrimental to their health when consumed in high quantities. Parents and other responsible parties would then need to help children learn to moderate their sugar intake. Some taste preferences are determined at a very young age, even in the womb, by a combination of inherent and environmental factors. Genetics are extremely complex and a mothers health and habits during pregnancy can actually affect the genetic expression of the fetus. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, demanding conditions experienced by the mother are transmitted to the fetus through endocrine and nutritional signals. These signals result in both short-term and long-term changes in gene expression in the fetus (National Research Council, 2001). These changes in genetic expression can affect a childs risk for serious health conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. Not only does a mothers diet choices affect her childs risk factors, but also affects her childs dietary preferences after birth. The sensory environment, in which the fetus lives, changes as a reflection of the food choices of the mother as dietary flavors are transmitted via amniotic fluid. Experiences with such flavors lead to heightened preferences for these flavors shortly after birth

and at weaning (Hale 2011). Even after birth a mother can influence her childs preferences through breastfeeding. The mothers diet corresponds to flavors found within her breast milk which the child will then develop a tolerance if not preference for. This increased exposure to various flavors [through breastmilk] contributes to greater fruit and vegetable consumption in childhood (Hale 2011). The preferences that children develop early on can be greatly affected by the environment created by their mother. For many children today, their environment encourages unhealthy food preferences. Some environmental stimulants knowingly promote unhealthy food choices while other factors may inadvertantly encourage children to prefer sweet foods. During childrens television programming there are numerous advertisements for sugary, fatty, and unhealthy foods. A study on six to thirteen year old children in the Northwest of England showed the TV food advertising directly increased a childs preference for unhealthy foods. The children were shown an episode of a popular cartoon before being shown it again two weeks later. In each case, the cartoon was preceded by five minutes of commercials -- one set showing toy adverts and one showing mainly snacks and fast food. [...] The study found that after viewing the food commercials the children were more likely to pick unhealthy foods (Boyland et al. 2011). This is a type of observational learning similar to Banduras Bobo Doll experiment. Television is not the only place children are observing unhealthy habits, there was also a study done on how online food games affect a childs meal or snack choices. The advertising in the games was influencing the children to choose the unhealthy snacks while rejecting the healthier ones (Park 2012). The children are exposed to unhealthy foods and immediately show a preference toward those foods. Parents and other influential adults can also help develop a childs preferences for unhealthy foods, but may do so unknowingly. For example, psychologists have found that using the strategy of offering pudding as a reward for eating vegetables is teaching children to desire foods that are bad for them. They have also discovered that withholding foods when vegetables are not eaten, results in children viewing the restricted food as desirable (Feeding Strategies Can Have a Profound Effect on Children's Food Preferences 2004). Parents should stop using food as a form of motivation or reward for their children in order to help promote healthier food choices. Dr. Christine Wood recommends, [Parents] try to remain neutral with [their] attitude about whether [kids] will or will not eat a certain food and dont place more value on any one food on the plate. Also offer the foods, even if [kids] have refused before (2012). Children are greatly influenced by advertisers intentionally and parents unintentionally steering them towards unhealthy foods. There are ways that people can help influence childrens dietary preferences in a positive manner. First, adults must recognize that children have different preferences even for plating and presentation of food. According to a study by Cornell University, children prefer entrees to be positioned in the lower segment of the plate with some design or pattern to it, while adults prefer it in the center. And, [...] while adults prefer three components and three colors on their plates children preferred seven components and six colors (Kniffen et. al 2012). Changing the way food is presented to young children could help them to enjoy and develop a preference for healthy foods. Many schools are trying to improve their school lunch programs and need to encourage students to choose their healthier menu items. Already in some

Cheryl Gregory elementary schools, they renamed some foods [...] "X-ray vision carrots" and "lean, mean green beans" and watched consumption rise. Cafeteria workers also got more involved, asking, "Would you rather have green beans or carrots today?" instead of waiting for a kid to request them (Associated Press, 2010). The effect of the small presentation changes at the elementary school demonstrate that childrens food preferences are greatly influenced by environmental factors. This could mean that their preferences are very malleable and by changing their environment, their preferences could change for the better. While children are inherently wired to prefer sweet and fatty tastes, many of their food preferences are developed through the influence of environmental factors. From the time the child is in the womb, their mothers dietary choices have a great influence on their own preferences after birth. Children also learn through advertisements and through adults what foods are desirable. With such impressionable taste preferences, people should find ways to promote and encourage children to choose healthier foods. There can be a lot of nutrition misinformation available to parents so for the best and most reliable nutrition information, parents should refer to the American Dietetic Associations eatright.org and the governments choosemyplate.gov. Hopefully, with more focus on how and why children eat what they do, we will be better able to curb the childhood obesity epidemic and ensure the health of the future generation.

Works Cited Associated Press. You can lead kids to healthy food, but can psychology make them eat? USAToday.com. Gannett Co. Inc., 12 Oct. 2010. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. Boyland, E. J., et al. Food Commercials Increase Preference for Energy-Dense Foods, Particularly in Children Who Watch More Television. Pediatrics, 10.1542 (2011): n. pag. Web. 11 April 2012. Davis, Steven, and Palladino, Joseph. Psychology. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2010. Web. Eat Right.org. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Feeding Strategies Can Have a Profound Effect on Children's Food Preferences. News-Medical.net, 11 Aug. 2004. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Hale, J. The Development of Food Preferences. Psych Central 2011. Web. 11 April 2012. Herring, David. Choosemyplate.gov. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Kniffin, K. M., et al. Food plating preferences of children: the importance of presentation on desire for diversity. Acta Paediatrica, 101 (2012): 6166. Web. 12 April 2012. National Research Council (US) Committee on Future Directions for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health; Singer, BH and Ryff, CD, editors. Environmentally Induced Gene Expression. New Horizons in Health: An Integrative Approach. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US) (2001): n. pag. Web. 12 April 2012. Park, Alice. Can Online Games can Influence What Kids Eat? Time Magazine.Time Inc., 10 Jan. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Wood, Christine. Sneaky Ways with Veggies. Kidseatgreat.com. How to Get Kids to Eat Great and Love It!, 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.