Effect of repeated exposure to either fruits or vegetables during the first 18 days of weaning on fruit and vegetable intake of infants at 12 months

Abstract

The low vegetable intake in children is probably due to the notion that vegetables are disliked. Because most taste preferences are formed during the first year of life, we started an intervention among weaning infants (n = 101) to increase the liking for vegetables. We expected that starting weaning with exclusively vegetable purees, would increase the infants’ preferences for vegetables and this effect would still be present 7 months after weaning. Half of the infants received exclusively vegetable purees during the first 18 days of weaning (vegetable group), and the other half received exclusively fruit purees (fruit group). At 12 ± 1.4 (mean ± SD) months of age, 82 of the infants participated in a follow-up measurement. Their parents completed a 3-day food diary (n = 71) in which they reported everything their infant consumed during three days. At two separate days in the laboratory we measured ad libitum intake of apples and green beans. The mean vegetable intake at home was significantly higher in the vegetable group than in the fruit group. Also the fruit consumption in the vegetable group was higher, although not significant. The fruit and vegetable groups have similar intakes of apples and green beans. These results show that starting weaning with vegetables has a positive influence on the reported vegetable intake at 12 months.