Vegetables are one of my all-time favourite foods. I like to treat myself to roasted cauliflower, buy most of my groceries from the farmer’s market, and sneak a salad into the theatre every now and again. For a while, things were different. Despite the fact that my mother was a master chef who served vegetables in a variety of ways that I liked, I can still recall times when I buried anything green in my napkin rather than eat it at the dinner table.
Behaviours like these are common in childhood recollections for the vast majority of individuals, with a few exceptions. What is it about veggies that makes them so hated by children? I did some digging and found some answers.
Kids need much more energy than adults. The body’s prefered fuel, glucose, is the primary source of energy for humans, so people naturally gravitate towards foods that give a lot of it. There aren’t many calories in vegetables, thus they don’t supply a lot of kilojoules of energy. In fact, because of their high fibre content and low caloric content, certain vegetables may need as much energy to digest as they do to eat. Learn the ways you can teach your children to eat veggies here.
Children (who have enormous energy demands) should not consume items that do not supply them with energy, according to biology. Because we humans are such a great species, we’ve managed to screw things up and now face an obesity pandemic among children.
In addition to their flavour and what it suggests, vegetables are disliked by youngsters for a variety of biological reasons. Greens and cruciferous vegetables, in particular, have a distinctive flavour: a faint bitterness. Calcium content and beneficial chemicals including phenols, flavonoids, isoflavones, terpenes, and glucosinolates contribute to the bitter flavour.
Aside from the fact that youngsters may be more sensitive to bitterness, they also have a larger incentive to stay away from it. Bitterness is a warning indication in nature that something is poisonous or deadly. There is a high concentration of bitter chemicals in many veggies, but they aren’t concentrated enough to do any damage to humans. Vegetables contain helpful levels of nutrients in minute concentrations, as we adults have come to understand from personal experience and observation.
Why do we consume and appreciate vegetables as adults if their bitter components indicate probable toxicity? For the most part, this is due to the fact that we’ve had time to realise that veggies are safe. We’ve also developed a taste for their bitterness after a long period of contact.
While in the wild, an animal will sample a little amount of a new food source before completely digesting and processing it to ensure that it is safe. For a total of 10-15 repetitions, if there are no adverse effects, they will repeat the procedure. As a result of this, kids will be able to eat it on a daily basis and know that it is safe and healthy. Human behaviour is very similar across species.
Children, on the other hand, haven’t had the opportunity to eat a variety of meals at least ten times, nor have they had the opportunity to see through the eyes of others unambiguous evidence that vegetables are safe. Also, because of this, coffee, beer, and dark chocolate are often disliked by the majority of individuals upon initial exposure.
Children, on the other hand, rely more heavily on their instincts than adults do (rather than basing their decisions on other cognitive influences as we do). As children have smaller bodies and less developed ability for detoxifying, they are more vulnerable to chemical overload than adults. It makes sense for children to be more in touch with their natural instincts in this circumstance.
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