Research shows that before the age of two (starting in the womb and continuing through breast-feeding, weaning and up to toddler age) kids can be taught to like and prefer the flavor of vegetables using a process called Early Flavor Learning. Flavor preferences formed before the age of two continue into adulthood, and help promote children who are healthy, less-picky eaters.

Today there’s an app designed to help mom’s take advantage of this important time. The app is called FlavorBaby and is now available on the Apple App Store.

Here’s how it works:
Studies show that Early Flavor Learning is best achieved by providing a variety of food flavors in a 4 to 5 day rotation. FlavorBaby accomplishes this by dividing vegetables into four major flavor families and then providing mom with a “Flavor of the Day,” giving her the flexibility to choose the vegetable she prefers from within that day’s flavor family.

FlavorBaby is also organized by life stage and provides daily flavor suggestions and information that matches baby’s needs during each important phase of Early Flavor Learning.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding the mother eats the day’s vegetable and provides baby with a flavor experience in the womb or via breast milk. During all other phases, baby eats (or tastes) the day’s vegetable, sometimes in puree form depending on life stage.

The FlavorBaby app allows parents to select the vegetables they like best, so they can customize their (and their child’s) experience and the flavors they share with their child during Early Flavor Learning to better match those of the foods they’ll prepare for them later in life. FlavorBaby is visually-based (like Instagram) and contains photos and cooking methods for 44 vegetables, and has simple, delicious recipes for each, including recipes for baby food puree.

Research has shown that it can sometimes take up to 12 trials before a vegetable is liked or accepted, so the app has a handy Trial Tracker feature to help mom track baby’s first flavor experience including how many times baby has tried a vegetable and whether they liked it. There’s also a shopping list feature and a color-coded, monthly overview to track progress as well.

Parenting is a job like no other. Parents are tasked with the sometimes overwhelming responsibility of setting their children up for a successful life. FlavorBaby can help lighten that load, especially when it comes to nourishing and teaching babies about healthy flavors.

Website: flavorbabyapp.com | Apple app Store Preview

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | email: mac@flavorbabyapp.com

While the grocery store shelves are packed with an endless assortment of baby food flavors, research suggests some are better than others in helping to develop your baby’s palate.

All children are predisposed to like sweet foods and dislike bitter tasting vegetables, but their taste preferences can be shaped before the age of 18 months. Because of this, it’s important that a child’s first foods are primarily vegetables. Vegetable flavors should also be introduced in rotation to provide familiarity.

Following this logic, here are three specific tips for helping to select which prepared baby foods will lead to your child becoming a more adventurous eater:

• Avoid baby foods that are 100% fruit or have fruit as the lead ingredient. Fruits are an important compliment for nutrition purposes, but they are naturally sweet and easily liked by children so they can be introduced later in your child’s palate development. During the early part of the weaning process concentrate on vegetables and avoid baby foods that are exclusively fruit.

• Choose baby foods that have a vegetable listed as the first ingredient on the back. Don’t fall for just looking at the images or ingredients listed on the package front, which can be misleading. Check the ingredients list and focus on the one’s have a vegetable listed first. This means that that ingredient is the dominant ingredient (by weight) in the baby food. Many baby foods will have a fruit listed second (to add sweetness), but at least your baby will experience some flavor notes from that predominant vegetable.

• Limit baby foods which list vegetables from the sweet flavor category (i.e. sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, corn and pumpkin) as the dominant ingredient. While it’s important for children to learn to like sweet tasting vegetables as part of a healthy diet, it’s also important to remember that introducing a variety of flavor profiles (bitter, earthy, buttery, etc.) such as broccoli, green beans, peas and kale is essential in developing your child’s palate.

Science has proven that early flavor learning in children is critical to developing life-long flavor preferences and dietary habits. The key to practicing early flavor learning is variety in rotation: introducing flavors from different flavor categories and reintroducing them again 3-4 days later, being careful to introduce vegetables first and foremost. In selecting baby foods from your grocer, avoid 100% fruit, look for those that have a vegetable listed as the first ingredient and take care to choose a variety of vegetable flavors.

While every child and every child’s palate is unique, there are two things that virtually all kids have in common: they love sweets and they hate vegetables. Evolution, while working to steer us clear of bitter-tasting, poisonous plants and to prefer the sweet taste of energy-loaded foods, has unfortunately dealt our children a natural preference for poor nutrition in today’s world.

But there’s good news. Multiple scientific studies have revealed a series of “flavor learning windows” during which it is much easier to shape a child’s Flavor Intelligence. This period of opportunity starts in utero at 4 months gestation and continues until baby is 18 -20 months old – approximately 700 days. Provided this time is used wisely, research suggests children can be trained to prefer the flavor of vegetables and that this early “flavor learning” lasts throughout their childhood and later in life.

Below is a quick overview of the stages of early flavor learning and what you can do to increase your odds of raising a child who eat healthy for life.

Prenatal Flavor Learning

At four months gestation, a fetus’s ability to taste is fully formed. This means that anything that mommy eats baby can taste. The flavors of the mother’s diet appear in the amniotic fluid and are “imprinted” on the child’s mind forming the earliest stages of flavor learning.

To take advantage of prenatal flavor learning, focus especially on the last five months of gestation. During that time mothers should eat a varied diet that includes two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables each and every day. Pay special attention to vegetables, keeping at least one bitter green (i.e. green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprout, spinach) in regular rotation as a daily serving.

Nursing Infant Flavor Learning – “The Flavor Bridge”

During breastfeeding this cycle of flavor learning continues and becomes stronger as a baby now has the ability to smell (flavor is defined as the combination of taste and smell) as well. Some researchers have taken to calling breastfeeding the “flavor bridge,” extending the flavor experiences from learning in the womb to flavor learning during the weaning process to adult foods.

Breastfeeding mothers should continue eating two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables (including at least one bitter green, such as green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprout, and spinach) each and every day. While flavor intensity can vary with time, one study showed that the flavors of the mother’s diet peaked in breast milk 1.5 hours to 3 hours after ingestion, suggesting this as an optimal window for flavor learning while breast feeding.

Formula-fed Infant Flavor Learning

For mothers who are formula feeding exclusively, it is unfortunate that the singular flavor profile of today’s infant formulas does not provide an opportunity for early flavor learning. However, there is an old French custom that new moms may want to consider. Moms in France have taken to adding a small amount of vegetable puree to formula to gradually introduce their little ones to vegetable flavors in the weeks and months prior to starting purees during weaning.

Flavor learning in this way can take place via baby’s bottle or with a small spoon. In giving this a try, vegetables to include are carrots, green beans, spinach, broccoli, zucchini (peeled and seeds removed), leeks (whites only), and pumpkin. Baby endive, baby chard, and green peas can be used in limited quantities, but only if served ground extra fine due to their fiber content. The idea here is introduce new flavors, in a regular rotation, each day. It is not necessary to do this at every feeding.

Weaning Infant Flavor Learning

By tradition in the U.S., single-grain, bland tasting cereals are generally baby’s first food. This too is a lost opportunity for flavor learning. In a study led by Dr. Marion Hetherington at the University of Leeds, it was found that when baby’s were fed a rotation of vegetable flavors first added to milk then to cereal before weaning to solid foods, those babies ate more vegetables faster and enjoyed them more than those in the control group.

In practicing early flavor learning during your baby’s transition to solid foods, in addition to breastfeeding or formula feeding as usual, add a little vegetable puree first to breast milk or formula once daily for 2 to 3 weeks (40% puree to 60% milk) then to a cereal and breast milk or formula mixture once daily (70% puree to 30% cereal mixture) for 2 to 3 few weeks. The vegetables you may want to try in the rotation are carrots, green beans, spinach, and broccoli.

Regardless of what stage of the early flavor learning process your child is in, keep in mind that a consistent rotation of vegetables is ideal. It’s a good idea to create a log to help keep tabs on your progress. Repeated exposure and flavor variety are equally important. Research has shown that it is the combination of repeating and alternating flavors that leads to a preference for specific foods and an increased acceptance of new foods in the short term and later in life. This is the core premise behind early flavor learning and improved Flavor Intelligence. Be persistent and stay the course. Before you know it you’ll have a toddler who’s more accepting of vegetables and more likely to prefer the flavors of healthy foods, for life.

If you liked this article, it would mean a lot to me if you shared it on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Want more like this? Read my blog, The Flavor Learning Project and follow me on Medium and Twitter.

This article originally appeared on www.flavorlearning.com.

There is a sensitive period of time when an infant’s brain is most receptive to forming a preference for bitter flavors like green vegetables. Multiple studies have shown that from birth to 4 months old, babies are more open to trying and learning about different flavors, and, just as importantly, that this “flavor learning” lasts into adulthood.

In one study, infants were divided into two groups with very different tasting formula. The first group was fed only cows milk formula, and the second was fed only protein hydrolysate formula. Hydrolysate is a type of formula that is designed for babies who can not tolerate regular cow’s milk. The flavor of hydrolysate formula is extremely unpleasant to those who are unfamiliar with it. It has bitter and sour taste as well as a nauseating smell and aftertaste. In the study, infants less than 4 months old readily accepted the hydrolysate formula and even consumed it willingly. In marked contrast, infants 5-6 months old who had never been exposed to hydrolysate strongly objected to the flavor and refused to accept it. Additionally, it has been shown that infants who have had early experience with hydrolysate, showed a preference for its flavor at 5-6 months and even later in life at 4-5 years of age.

What does this mean for new mothers?

For mothers who are breastfeeding, it means that what you eat matters. The flavors of the foods you consume are transferred to breast milk and will influence the foods your child will accept and like during weaning, as a toddler, and well into adulthood.

To increase your chances of raising a child who will eat healthy for life (and hopefully avoid the health problems associated with being overweight or obese), breastfeeding moms should eat three servings of vegetables everyday. Vegetables in each day’s servings should include at least one bitter green, such as green beans, broccoli or spinach.

A consistent rotation of vegetables is ideal. Repeated exposure and variety are both important. Research has shown that it is the combination of repeating and alternating flavors that leads to a preference for specific foods and an increased acceptance of new foods in the short term and later in life. This is the core premise behind early flavor learning and improved Flavor Intelligence.

For mothers who are formula feeding exclusively, it is unfortunate that the singular flavor profile of today’s infant formulas does not provide an opportunity for early flavor learning. However, there is an old French custom that new moms may want to consider*.

Moms in France have taken to adding a small amount of vegetable puree to formula to gradually introduce their little ones to vegetable flavors in the weeks and months prior to starting purees during weaning.

Flavor learning in this way takes place via baby’s bottle or with a small spoon. In giving this a try, vegetables to include are carrots, green beans, spinach, broccoli, zucchini (peeled and seeds removed), leeks (whites only), and pumpkin. Baby endive, baby chard, and green peas can be used in limited quantities, but only if served ground extra fine due to their fiber content.

Of course, a baby’s first 4 months of life is not the only time during which flavor learning takes place. It’s important to note that flavor learning continues all throughout the life span and early flavor learning starts in utero (four months after conception) and extends until about 20 months of age. Our ability to experience and learn new flavor preferences is ongoing and, while it contains definite sensitive periods, continues throughout life.

To read more about flavor learning and Flavor Intelligence, and how to “imprint” a preference for the flavors of healthy foods on your child’s mind, click here.

If you liked this article, it would mean a lot to me if you shared it on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Want more like this? Follow me on Medium or Twitter. You may re-post this article on your blog or website, but please include the following: “This article originally appeared on www.flavorlearning.com. Follow @macmclaurin for more articles like this.”

*The American Association of Pediatricians recommends only breast milk or formula for baby’s first six months

September is Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, an important time to reflect on the reality that nearly 1 of every 5 children in the United States is obese. While there is no single or simple solution, below are six important facts all expectant mothers should know:

1. Obese children are at least twice as likely to become obese adults.

2. Obesity leads to a life of physical and mental health problems, including diabetes and increased risk of certain cancers.
   

3. Genetics can increase one’s susceptibility to obesity, but other outside factors are required.

4. All children are born with certain ingrained flavor instincts such as a love for sweets and an aversion to bitter foods (e.g. green vegetables).

5. Your child’s flavor preferences can be shaped through flavor learning especially during their first 1000 “taste days” (beginning in utero and continuing through breastfeeding, weaning and early adult-food feeding).

6. The effects of early flavor learning last into adulthood.

While it’s true that the children of overweight parents are 60% more likely to become overweight or obese by age five and overweight children are 80% more likely to become overweight or obese adults, strategies for preventing children from becoming overweight or obese do work and they begin with flavor learning.

Flavor learning is the natural mammalian process of forming our “likes” and “dislikes” for foods. Scientists believe flavor learning evolved to help us learn at a very early age, which foods provide energy and which are safe or unsafe to eat.

The effects of early flavor learning last until later in life and its effectiveness has been proven by numerous scientific studies. Flavor learning’s potential as an early learning tool for parents – just as music and reading to children are used to promote early cognitive function and development – is significant and merits serious consideration especially for expectant mothers.

The process starts early, even before kids are born, and requires paying particular attention to the flavors your baby experiences in her first 1000 “taste days.” During this fast-growing period of life, new foods and flavors are more easily accepted than later in adulthood when it can be very difficult to change food preferences.

As summed up from Flavor Learning in Utero and Infancy, an interview with Dr. Julie Mennella, a biopsychologist specializing in the development of food and flavor preferences in humans: Early exposure to a wide variety of flavors that signal healthy foods can help to shape your baby’s food preferences later in life.

What does this mean for pregnant mothers exactly? It means you can help shape your baby’s taste preferences so he likes (or is more accepting of) healthy foods later in life.

As a pregnant mother, below are some things you may want to consider as your baby moves through her first 1000 “taste days”:

Prenatal Flavor Learning

At four months gestation, a fetus’s ability to taste is fully formed. This means that anything that mommy eats baby can taste. The flavors of the mother’s diet appear in the amniotic fluid and are “imprinted” on the child’s mind forming the earliest stages of flavor learning.

To take advantage of prenatal flavor learning, focus especially on the final 4 to 9 months of gestation. During that time mothers should eat a varied diet that includes two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables each and every day. Pay special attention to vegetables, keeping at least one bitter green (i.e. green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprout, spinach) in regular rotation as a daily serving.

Nursing Infant Flavor Learning – “The Flavor Bridge”

During breastfeeding this cycle of flavor learning continues and becomes stronger as a baby now has the ability to smell (flavor is defined as the combination of taste and smell) as well. Some researchers have taken to calling breastfeeding the “flavor bridge,” extending the flavor experiences from learning in the womb to flavor learning during the weaning process to adult foods.

Breastfeeding mothers should continue eating two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables (including at least one bitter green, such as green beans, broccoli, Brussels sprout, and spinach) each and every day. While flavor intensity can vary with time, one study showed that the flavors of the mother’s diet peaked in breast milk 1.5 hours to 3 hours after ingestion, suggesting this as an optimal window for flavor learning.

Formula-fed Infant Flavor Learning

Due to the singular flavor experience afforded by infant formulas, baby’s who are formula-fed exclusively are missing out during this important “flavor bridge” period. And, while the American Association of Pediatricians (AAP) recommends only breast milk or formula for baby’s first six months there is an old French custom, which you may want to consider if you are feeding your baby formula exclusively. Moms in France have taken to adding a tiny bit of puree or a little water from cooking vegetables (think bouillon without added salt) to baby formula to gradually introduce their little ones to vegetable flavors prior to starting purees during weaning. This can take place in very small amounts in baby’s bottle or with a spoon. As adults, a vegetable flavored formula may not sound appealing, but multiple studies show that specific flavors carried through in mother’s milk are later preferred by weaning babies.

In giving this a try, vegetables you may want to include are carrots, green beans, spinach, broccoli, zucchini (peeled and seeds removed), leeks (whites only), and pumpkin. Baby endive, baby chard, and green peas can be used in limited quantities, but only if served ground extra fine due their fiber content.

Weaning Infant Flavor Learning

By tradition in the U.S., single-grain, bland tasting cereals are generally baby’s first food. This too is a lost opportunity for flavor learning. In a study led by Dr. Marion Hetherington at the University of Leeds it was concluded that…

“…early exposure to a rotation of vegetable flavors first added to milk, then to cereal, increased intake and liking of these vegetables during complimentary feeding.”

In the study, babies were given milk mixed with 40% vegetable puree once daily for 12 days and baby rice mixed with 70% vegetable puree once daily for the next 12 days, while breast or formula feeding proceeded as usual. Researchers found that these babies ate more vegetables, ate them at a faster rate, and enjoyed them more than those in the control group.

In addition to breastfeeding or formula feeding as usual, during the weaning to solid food process you may want to try adding a little vegetable puree first to breast milk or formula for 2 to 3 weeks (40% puree to 60% milk) then to a cereal and breast milk or formula mixture (70% puree to 30% cereal mixture) for 2 to 3 few weeks. The vegetables you may want to try in the rotation are carrots, green beans, spinach, and broccoli.

For more than three years I have spent time researching the subject of flavor learning and uncovered more than 100 scientific articles and studies that confirm different aspects of its viability. Yet the idea of flavor learning appears only in a smattering of news articles and the problem of childhood obesity in the U.S. has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. It’s clear that the strategies we are currently putting forth are not enough. In my opinion, flavor learning is a simple and natural way to raise the “flavor intelligence” of our children, expanding their palates and increasing their preference for healthy foods as children, adolescents and throughout their adult life.

If you liked this article, it would mean a lot to me if you shared it on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Want more like this? Follow me on Medium or Twitter.

You may re-post this article on your blog, website, etc. as long as you include the following (including the links): “This article originally appeared on www.flavorlearning.com. Follow @macmclaurin for more articles like this.”

Lastly, I know some of the advice provided here runs counter to common American societal thinking. My recommendation is to do your own research. Read my blog: The Flavor Learning Project. Google flavor learning and read the articles and research as I have done. Talk to your healthcare professional about flavor learning and what makes sense for you and your baby. While I truly believe flavor learning can help to lessen our childhood obesity problem and ensure that future generations eat healthier, this column should not be considered medical advice.

The belief that our kids will die at a younger age than we will is not new. It has been trumpeted by Michelle Obama in recent years as a part of her initiative to fight childhood obesity as well as many other public health advocates.

It stems from a research paper compiled by an expert panel of health and medical advisors as well as mathematicians who specialize in extrapolation. Their combined thinking was clear in its message:

“If the prevalence of obesity continues to rise, especially at younger ages, the negative effect on health and longevity in the coming decades could be much worse.”

While it has become common knowledge that obesity has a substantial negative effect on the health of children and adults, and that children who are obese are much more likely to become obese adults, it also appears that our obesity problem in American stands to erase the advances of science in extending our average life span.

According to the same research, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, “The prevalence of obesity, especially among children, is likely to continue to rise; with obesity occurring at younger ages, the children and young adults of today will carry and express obesity-related risks for more of their lifetime than previous generations have done… These trends suggest that the relative influence of obesity on the life expectancy of future generations could be markedly worse than it is for current generations.”

Additionally, the following passage makes it clear that new thinking – like perhaps that of Flavor Intelligence and early flavor learning – is needed:

“Unless effective population-level interventions to reduce obesity are developed, the steady rise in life expectancy observed in the modern era may soon come to an end and the youth of today may, on average, live less healthy and possibly even shorter lives than their parents. The health and life expectancy of minority populations may be hit hardest by obesity, because within these subgroups, access to health care is limited and childhood and adult obesity has increased the fastest. In fact, if the negative effect of obesity on life expectancy continues to worsen, and current trends in prevalence suggest it will, then gains in health and longevity that have taken decades to achieve may be quickly reversed.”

While the conclusions inferred in this research are dire, it is this authors hope and that of many others throughout the health and public policy sectors, that something significant can be done to reverse the rapid growth of childhood obesity in America.

President Obama signed into law a bill requiring that all food brands clearly label all genetically modified ingredients.

As reported by the Washington Post, “The legislation passed by Congress two weeks ago will require most food packages to carry a text label, a symbol or an electronic code readable by smartphone that indicates whether the food contains genetically modified organisms (GMOs).”

While the use of GMOs is supported by many in the scientific community (i.e. Bill Nye and more than 100 Nobel laureates), Greenpeace and the Center for Food Safety, advocate that little is known about the heath effects of GMOs and that they could potentially pollute non-GMO crops.

According to the food industry experts, more than 75% of our foods contain GMOs, most of those being from ingredients such as corn or soybeans, which are made into popular processed food ingredients such as cornstarch, soybean oil or high-fructose corn syrup. Most GMO ingredients are used primarily in highly processed foods, however, so they are generally not an issue for those looking to eat healthy, natural-tasting, whole foods (like those that promote Flavor Intelligence through early flavor learning in children).

That said, avoiding them is easy, just look for the Non-GMO Project Verified logo.

This year’s presidential election has been entertaining to say the least, but in these final weeks and months leading up the November the candidates’ issues of choice have finally become clear. What surprising to me is the one that’s missing: nutrition.

Poor nutrition is the number one cause of poor health in the U.S. And ironically, while the debate on Nationalized healthcare rages, the #1 strain on our healthcare system (diet-related diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, and many cancers) remains largely ignored. Not that the economy, the environment, healthcare and education are not important, but with 12.7 million (17%) of our children (aged 2-19) and 78.6 million (35%) of American adults being obese, it’s pretty clear that nutrition – and how to solve our obesity problem – should be at the forefront of this year’s presidential debates.

Especially when you compare our numbers internationally. The United States has the highest number of overweight and obese people in the world. In the U.S., 71% of men and 62% of women are overweight or obese, compared to 38% of men and 37% of women worldwide. And our children don’t fair any better — 29% of boys and 30% of girls are overweight or obese in the U.S., compared to 14% of boys and 15% of girls worldwide. And the numbers are even worse among America’s minorities and among those at the lower end of the economic spectrum.

Knowing that the risk of adult obesity is at least twice as high for obese children as for non-obese children, it’s clear the that a big part of the solution to our obesity problem lies in educating parents both on pediatric nutrition and Flavor Intelligence and providing our children with better access to foods with a higher nutritional value and proper flavor learning qualities.

In a well-written and well-researched article by Jane Brody in the New York Times, a strong case is made for urgency in fighting childhood obesity. Two new studies conducted with more than half a million children found that obese children were much more likely to develop health problems such as colon cancer, rectal cancer, or clot-related stroke.

Further more, the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry states that “overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults”. – unless they adopt and maintain a healthy pattern of eating and exercise. “A child who is obese between the ages of 10 and 13 has an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult.” Additionally, another study, found that “overweight 5-year-olds were four times as likely as normal-weight children to become obese by age 14.”

And the bad news for obese children extends beyond physical health issues and the propensity to become obese adults. Obese adolescents have higher rates of depression and poor self-esteem. Another study out of the University of California, San Diego, found that obese children and adolescents had a diminished quality of life similar to that of children with cancer. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2012 18% of children and 21% of adolescents were obese. Imagine, 20% of our kids and teenagers are living life feeling as badly as if they had cancer, and this for something that is totally preventable.

The article ends with mentioning that it’s mostly the parents’ responsibility to curb childhood obesity in their children, but refers to a study from the Netherlands where researchers found that parents of 2,205 5-year-olds “underestimated their overweight child in 85% of the cases.”

Let’s take a quick look again at the issues surrounding childhood obesity:

• obese children are at a much higher risk to develop serious health problems as adults
• obese children are very likely to become obese adults
• obese children lead a diminished quality of life similar that of kids with cancer
• parents are poor judges of whether their kids are overweight

So what’s the answer to solving our childhood obesity problem? Prevention and early intervention by raising our children’s Flavor Intelligence. Children need to “learn” which flavors they should love. A love for healthy foods can be taught later in life, but it’s much more difficult.