January 31, 2012 Early Vegetable Variety: The French Advantage
The evidence keeps coming in: We should eat more like the French.
We should feed our infants their way do too.
The French have figured out how to introduce their infants to vegetables in a way that works. And their method doesn't just produce better vegetable eaters, their method produces better eaters. Period.
Remember all the hoopla over the book French Women Don't Get Fat? Well, excellent eating habits extend to French kids too. Check out Karen Le Billon's French Kids School Lunch Project for a real eye-opener. (I guess she's right, French Kids Eat Everything.)
What is the French secret?
The French introduce their infants to lots of different vegetables during the first month of weaning. And, they rotate through those vegetables regularly.
I'm sure there are lots of other factors at work here, but check this out. Researchers recently compared the feeding practices of French and German mothers and found some significant differences. (Spoiler alert: We’re more like the Germans.)
During the first month of weaning:
- The French mothers typically gave their infants 6 different vegetables.
- The German mothers typically gave their infants 3 different vegetables.
More specifically:
- More than 40% of the French infants were exposed to 7-12 vegetables.
- None of the German infants were given more than 6.
The French mothers also rotated through more vegetables from day-to-day.
- The French mothers made 18 or more changes in the vegetables they offered from day-to-day during the 28 day study. Some made as many as 27 changes.
- In Germany, more than 80% of the mothers made fewer than 7 vegetable changes during the course of the study. None made more than 13.
Variety. It really is the key to teaching kids to eat right. Read The BIG Fix.
When asked to explain why they choose their particular feeding strategy:
- The French mothers mentioned taste development.
- The German mothers talked about food allergies.
The prevalence of food allergies in infants in France and Germany is the same: 5-8%.
We’re concerned about food allergies here too. According to the CDC, though, the prevalence of food allergies in the U.S. for children under 5 is also low: 4.7%.
Maybe we should be thinking more about taste development and less about food allergies. Read Why Toddlers Don't Eat Vegetables.
General vegetable consumption is higher in France than in Germany.
And it's higher than in the U.S. too. I guess the French are on to something.
And here's an added bonus: Because the French mothers introduced more vegetables, they didn't have to worry when one was rejected. (That's something I can get behind.)
- French mothers typically gave up offering an initially rejected vegetable after 1 or 2 tries.
- German mothers usually offered the rejected vegetable 3-5 times.
So get the French Advantage! More alternatives. Less pressure. More success.
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
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Source: Maier, A., C. Chabanet, B. Schaal, P. Leathwood, and S. Issanchou. 2007. “Food-Related Sensory Experience From Birth Through Weaning: Contrasted Patterns in Two Nearby European Regions.” Appetite 49: 429-40.
Reader Comments (9)
I really wish I'd read and known this as I was preparing to start my daughter on solids. So much of the info on introducing solids focuses on food allergies. I was terrified and way too overly cautious and I know that has contributed to my daughter's limited range of accepted foods and her reluctance to taste new things (even when she usually likes them). There are tons of great baby food cookbooks out there, but there really needs to be less of the food allergy talk and more messaging about introducing many more foods way earlier and more often.
Great information! Thank you.
Do you have any nice studies that show a correlation between the variety of food a baby is weaned to and the variety of food a toddler or older child eats? It seems logical and french kids certainly seem to eat a nice variety, but some solid data would be interesting to see.
Both my kids reduced their repertoire of foods they ate when going from babies to toddlers (though one much, much more than the other).
What a well timed post! I've just started introducing solids to my 6 month old a few weeks ago, and I told myself that I would follow your "no food item 2 days in a row" idea with her. I'm also determined not to focus on HOW MUCH she eats, but rather just getting her used to different tastes & textures (I made that mistake with my now-2-year-old son).
I almost lapsed the first couple of weeks, as she wouldn't keep anything but baby rice or oatmeal in her mouth, and would eat heaps of those if I gave them to her, but almost nothing of anything else. Then I remembered "variety, not quantity" and that she should be getting most of her calories from milk, not food. So now I make sure I fill her up with breastmilk and/or formula first, and then let her taste/eat/play with the solid food afterwards (although I'll often mix a new food with oatmeal or baby rice the first few times, so the texture isn't too different to what she's used to). That way, she doesn't eat much of the food (whether she likes the food or not), but is getting exposed to lots of different flavors without me worrying about her being hungry.
Oh - and I'm also SUPER relaxed about the food allergy thing this time round. I was fairly relaxed with my son, but still followed the 2-3 days between introduction of new foods. This time I'm only really being careful about introducing the more common allergy foods (eggs, dairy, fish, seafood, strawberries, citrus, nuts, etc). I don't know any kids that are allergic to peas & carrots!!
Here's hoping she turns out to be a less fussy toddler than her big brother! (Wish I'd discovered you 2 years ago, Dina!).
Erin: I agree with you that the emphasis on allergies is overdone. It's coming at a pretty high price.
Thy: Variety is the only thing that has been shown consistently to increase a child's repertoire, and to find against the picky stage.
Vestifarian: I'm so glad you're keeping variety, not quantity in mind. I'm going to write about texture next. Stay tuned...
Dina
I'm not sure I buy into this theory. I have identical twins daughters, now 6, who were fed the exact same varied diet as infants/toddlers. Literally the exact same diet, bite for bite out of the same bowl as infants and the exact same finger foods put on their trays as toddlers. We exposed them to every vegetable we brought home from our CSA share and many more fruits and vegetables than anyone I know. As well as starchy foods, meats, fish, beans, etc. They share the exact same DNA.
One of them LOVES vegetables. She eats peas, green beans, carrots, peppers,cucumbers beets, any type of green we put in front of her, etc. She's always willing to try a new veggie and she usually likes it. She doesn't like most meat. She dislikes beef and pork. She likes poultry on occasion. She does like fish, beans, and tofu.
Her identical twin on the other hand loves meat and starchy foods. She dislikes most vegetables. Peas, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes are the only ones she truly likes. She's willing to try others over and over again, but still dislikes them. She knows her sister likes them and she even wants to like them, but her palate runs to more bland flavors.
So, while I believe exposure to many, many foods will teach kids to be more open to trying/eating a greater variety of foods, I don't believe that it will automatically create a broader palate.
Rhonda,
I agree that exposure doesn't automatically lead to food acceptance, but:
1) It's possible that your non-veggie loving daughter eats more vegetables than she would have if you hadn't exposed her to so many.
2) Your non-veggie loving daughter has a broad palate, though not in regard to vegetables. This could have been created by your exposure techniques.
2) The research is saying that the exposure technique improves vegetable consumption on average across a sample of infants, and is extrapolating to a country of infants. Individual results will vary, with some kids not responding.
Best,
Dina
I wish I'd been more adventurous when my son was a baby. I gave him quite a variety in the first few months (carrots, squash, yams, peas, zucchini, tomato, spinach, green beans, cabbage), but he got really sick with ear infections and started losing weight at around 13 months, and only wanted to eat bananas, oatmeal and apple sauce. I started caving in because he was losing so much weight, and he never really recovered his taste for variety after that. Now yam oven fries and baked kale chips are pretty much the only veg he eats undisguised, and I sneak others into soups (pureed carrot ginger), smoothies (chard or spinach) omelettes (spinach or grated zucchini). Very frustrating - there are many meals where he eats plain pasta or toast because I want to keep him occupied so I can eat in peace.
Heather,
I totally understand the frustration, and your desire to eat in peace, so don't beat yourself up for a minute. You can start to reintroduce your son to a broader range of foods by using The Rotation Rule. Just start mixing up what you serve for each snack and meal so you don't use the same food two days in a row. If that's not possible, switch up when you serve the same food (oatmeal one day for breakfast, oatmeal the next day for lunch). Your son should accept this since you aren't introducing a different food. Stick with this plan until it is working smoothly. Then, think about introducing a single taste (or a single smell, or touch) of a new food. Do that until tasting is accepted. NEVER ask your son to eat what he has tasted though. If he wants it, he'll come to you. Good luck.
Dina