Taste Preferences in Infants: What Defines Them?

Abstract

Breast milk is the best food for a baby of the first year of life. To pass successfully from feeding by breast milk or formula tothe introduction of complementary food, a child need to learn to perceive the taste of new products offering to him. We have evaluated mouthfeel of complementary food in 30 children aged between 4 and 12 months of life, which were divided into 3 groups according to the administered complementary food. The observation period was 30 days. The accounting of the perception of new complementary food was carried out basing on the assessment of the child's emotional status and tolerability of the complementary food product. As a result, in the first group of children the refusal of the vegetable intake (broccoli, squash) occurred to 4.1 ± 0.94 days from the start of the product administration. Intestinal colic and defecation disorders were observed in 2 (16.6%) children of this group, but they were not registered after the re-examination of infants. In the second group, the positive perception of buckwheat dairy-free porridge rich in 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was observed ranging from 3.0 ± 0.97 days from the start of its administration. In this group 1 (8.3%) child responded by the appearance of posseting and 2 (16.6%) — by defecation disorders. After 2 weeks 1 (8.3%) child still had defecation disorders. In the third group, children, starting from the 2nd day of the intake of pureed meat, ate this product with pleasure, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract have not been reported. Thus, studied complementary food has a good taste, hypoallergenic balanced composition and allows to diversify the diet of infants.