Since it is in the womb, the baby receives the flavors of the maternal diet through the amniotic fluid. Towards the end of pregnancy, she is even able to react with facial expressions to bitter flavors and to show a sweet tooth. It is an innate preference.
At birth, it shows a preference for the sweet taste of breast milk, something that is maintained during childhood. But, Why do children prefer sweet flavors and reject bitter ones? There is a scientific explanation.
Why does a child prefer a caramel to an artichoke, a banana to a lemon? Nor do they need to learn to speak to show their distaste for certain foods. Just look at the "I don't like anything" face that babies put on when they taste bitter foods for the first time. It is a flavor they would never choose.
An investigation published in the scientific journal Physiology & Behavior sheds light on these preferences for certain flavors in childhood and rejection of others.
The rejection of children towards the bitter taste of some vegetables or certain medications that sometimes they have to give them is something instinctive, it is part of the basic biology of children. Your taste buds have a special sensitivity towards bitter flavors.
But it would also be a form of survival: protects them from ingestion of poisons. Toxicity is generally associated with bitter flavors, so when they are small they feel a natural aversion to this type of food. However, this rejection usually disappears towards adolescence.
For its part, the sweet taste is the taste of breast milk, which acts even as an analgesic for the baby. It is a comforting taste. In addition, sweet foods provide the energy children need to grow during the first years.
