Young children who are sensitive to bitter flavours are likely to eat fewer vegetables. In recent years, scientists have identified a gene, dubbed TAS2R38, which controls a receptor for bitter flavour. A past study has found that children with certain variations of that gene are particularly sensitive tasters, able to detect a very small amount of a bitter-tasting compound in water. Researchers from the Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, did a an experiment with 65 preschool children (tasters – 24 and non-tasters - 41) and found that those whose taste buds were particularly attuned to detecting bitterness were less likely to eat their vegetables. In some cases, they balked at eating not only bitter vegetables, like broccoli and olives, but also sweeter fare like carrots and red peppers. The findings suggest that innately sensitive taste buds help explain why some children are so staunchly opposed to vegetables. When the children were given free range to snack on bitter-tasting vegetables (broccoli, olives and cucumbers) and sweeter ones (carrots and red peppers), the sensitive kids ate significantly fewer bitter vegetables. And while only 8 percent of non-taster children refused all of the vegetables, 32 percent of the sensitive tasters did so. The researchers recommend that parents of fussy eaters should recognise that their children may not be having the same taste experience as them. Parents should try not to project their own food preferences onto their children.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
July 2006