Science has proved that the taste is genetically determined, and even genes responsible for the love of some people for dishes with bitter taste have been identified. However, if we talk about growing babies, it is not genetics that determines the further formation of taste, but the family with its capabilities, habits and inclinations. The initial taste experience is acquired by the crumb still in utero when the amniotic fluid is swallowed, the taste of which depends on what products the mother uses and what she drinks. If preference is given to bitterness or acute, the future baby expects the same, and even more so if during breastfeeding, mother's addictions remain. Mummies, keep in mind, smoking negatively affects the child's appetite! By the way, up to 6 months the baby is given a breast on demand and until this age they do not offer juices and mashed potatoes.
First year
Nutritional behavior is formed from an early age, and it is during this period that taste preferences and the procedure for food intake are laid. This must be taken into account when making up a ration of crumbs. Even a small child is not indifferent to what kind of food is offered, what are its taste and aesthetic qualities, and in what conditions does food take place. The baby can respond positively to sweet, salty and negative - to bitter and sour. Children who have reduced sensitivity to bitter prefer vegetables, to sour - more eat fruit.
A significant role in the formation of appetite is complementary, which begins in two stages from 6 months. At the first stage, vegetable mashed potatoes are given, then porridges, and from 7 months the meat puree is added. If the child is initially on artificial feeding, then up to 3 months of feeding is strictly through; 3,5 hours, or 6 times a day. With 4 months, juices and fruit puree are introduced, from 6 months - porridge, from 7 months meat puree and feeding goes 5 times a day. With the lure during the first year of life, the baby receives new foods and dishes from them. Those children who are breastfed are more adaptable to complementary foods than artificers on mixtures of standard contents and monotonous taste.
Mom's of Tricks
Up to 4 years old, parents, especially mom, influence the taste - that she loves and, accordingly, prepares, then the child eats. Forms the taste: smell, consistency, structure and appearance of food.
The smell and type of ready meals trigger the digestive mechanism and can excite it or, on the contrary, slow down if they do not correspond to the child's perception. Then the appetite disappears somewhere, and the baby becomes sluggish, capricious. For example, the same cottage cheese with grated carrots, served crumbs on a bright saucer in the form of an asterisk or a pyramid, will attract the child's attention more than a shapeless mass.
The consistency of food, which is administered to a child after 7-8 months, is liquid, semi-liquid, viscous, thick and firm. Homogenized food is given from 4-6 months, puree - from 6-9 months, and coarse-grained - somewhere from 9 months and older. From the age of 1.5, you can give your baby boiled meat, chicken, cutlets, meatballs, fish without bones, and garnish served separately. If the new food is not perceived, the mother must show patience, perseverance and offer it again, while changing the shape, color and smell.
The combination of products is necessary for the formation of a wide range of taste, this achieves a good appetite, digestibility and saturation of the child's body with high-grade proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vegetable fiber and vitamins. The composition of dishes can be one-and multi-component - from 2-4 components, and also combined, for example, fruit with dairy products or meat with vegetables.
Natural flavors in reasonable doses and combinations enhance appetite. Give preference to bay leaf, dill, parsley, celery, onions and garlic (until the last 3 years, the last 2 components try not to give fresh, only as a part of complex dishes undergoing heat treatment), ground cumin. But with the burning spices and pepper it's worth the wait!
Everything matters!
The atmosphere in which food is taken is also very important. If the situation at the table is nervous, then dinner with dinner will not bring joy to the child. The baby should be encouraged to eat, not forced. Do not surround the children with food when they eat food, do not read books, do not turn on the TV, do not involve animals, do not laugh (and it happens!) - all this distracts and inhibits digestion.
The skills of independence at the table also contribute to the formation of a good appetite. The faster the child learns to own a spoon, fork, knife, the less will be the problems with feeding.
A toddler by the age of three should already have a neat spoon, to four with a fork, and in the fifth year of life it is time to introduce the child to the table knife. Believe me, do not be afraid, children easily learn new skills. Of course, the knife in the child's appliance should be special - with a rounded edge. Well, to introduce the baby with napkins should be as early as possible.
Beautifully served food causes positive emotions in children and forms a conditioned reflex, which is especially important if the child does not differ in heroic appetite.
The hourly mode of feeding is not the last component of a good appetite. At the age of 4-6 years, the baby should be fed 4-6 times a day in small portions. Dishes in the main meals should be at least three: the first, second and third.
Originally from childhood
Currently, despite a large range of products, there is a decline in their consumer recruitment, which is due to social, economic and psychological reasons. Most of the children do not have a clear diet, a rational menu that is replaced by high-calorie, carbohydrate and refined dishes, due to the busyness of the mugs, the computer, and the TV. Of course, the easiest way is to feed the child with chips, french fries, crackers, pizza instead of soup, porridge, dairy products, and give them a sweet, soda-filled liquid ... Unfortunately, children eat "harmful" foods with great pleasure, which, however, is easily explained. the composition of most of them includes the so-called taste enhancers - chemical compounds that stimulate the taste buds of the tongue, but the use of such food disrupts the natural mechanisms of digestion and leads to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, reduction of muscle mass with replacement on adipose tissue.
Since children consume milk products a little , a source of calcium mineral, the bone system suffers: the spine is bent, the posture is broken, the bones become brittle, the overall growth slows down. And the excess of instant food products, tomato sauces, black coffee promotes the additional excretion of calcium from the body.
The increased content of carbohydrates in the diet leads to obesity and diabetes, especially if there is a genetic predisposition to this.
Negative effects on the child and the excess in the diet of table salt, leading to fluid retention in the body, the formation of oxalate salts and the violation of the mechanism of regulation of blood pressure. Such children are candidates for the development of metabolic diseases, urine acid diathesis and hypertensive disease. So it turns out that most diseases not only teenagers, but also adults come from childhood ...
A sad picture!
It is important to form a child's love of vegetables and fruits - factors of health and prevention of obesity, diabetes, anemia, constipation and other diseases.
Remember, children are very impressionable and suggestible. Therefore, it is not worth while talking with them about favorite and unloved dishes, and it is better to explain the benefits and harms of a product, and then many problems with food will disappear by themselves. So, the correct and rational nutrition of the child is the guarantee of his health and the peace of his parents.