There may be sensitive periods for taste as well. Most children are born hating the flavor of broccoli. Scientists believe the vegetable evolved to produce a foul-tasting compound called goitrin so that animals wouldn’t eat it into extinction. But one 1990 study found that it was possible to make young children fall in love with the bitter taste of broccoli—by serving it over and over again, with more pleasant foods. The good news is that getting your child to like broccoli is possible through repeat exposure. The bad news is that familiarizing broccoli is an expensive chore for parents,
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