|
07/27/2010
 Encouraging Your Childto Appreciate Their Taste Buds
By Cheryl Tallman
www.FreshBaby.com
Encouraging healthy eating isabout balance - even when it comes to taste. Here are a few tipsthat can help you expand or improve the balance in your child'staste buds.
Experiment with Tastes: Allowyour child to experience and identify the four unique tastes that makeup flavor - sweet, salty, sour, bitter. Taste small amounts ofdifferent ingredients to identify which taste category they belong to.This can be a fun kitchen activity when preparing dinner!
Stay Balanced: Good tasteis a balancing act. Include a variety of tastes in your mealsand encourage your child to try all foods. Experiencing the sametastes all the time is not a path to healthy eating.
Ask Them and Talk About It: Whenyou hear "that's yummy!" or "Yuck - that's terrible!" - ask whichflavor is best or bothering. The more you understand your child's tastepreferences the easier to guide (and expand) their food choices.
Sweet Tendency: Bothbreast milk and formula are sweet. It is the first taste we develop andas a result we're already "off balance" when we begin eating foods. Itis believed the earlier you introduce your child to other tastes, thebetter chance you have of keeping a "sweet tooth" from overpowering thetaste buds.
About the author: Cheryl Tallmanis the co-founder of Fresh Baby, creators of the award-winning So EasyBaby Food Kit, and author of the SoEasy Baby Food Basics: Homemade Baby Food in Less Than 30 Minutes PerWeek and So Easy ToddlerFood: Survival Tips and Simple Recipes for the Toddler Years.Visit Cheryl online at www.FreshBaby.com for more delicious tips. Permissiongranted foruse onDrLaura.com
|
