The more kids are bombarded with messages for healthy eating, the more likely the ideas are to stick. One recent
study
explains that a “flavor window” lasts from four to six months of age. The flavor window offers the optimal time to introduce a variety of vegetables and set patterns for lifelong healthy habits for those vegetables as well as a
willingness to try
new ones.
For those who missed the flavor window or found it glued shut from the onset, the key to getting kids to eat healthy foods comes from persistence and exposure. Schools, parents, and all caretakers must band together and stand united with messages and modeling that encourage fresh, nutritious food choices.
At school this means when fresh green beans cooked to perfection are served on the menu, the morning announcement tells students that green beans originated in Central America more than 5,000 years ago, students then study the parts of a green bean plant in biology and the number of beans per plant in math, and they go to the school garden to plant corn for a natural bean trellis. The student tastes fresh beans in home economics, not just green, but yellow and purple too. Art of vegetables hang in the hallways. They take home recipes and share their learning with family. The parents might come to the school for cooking classes or join their students on a field trip to a local farm.