🧠 Eating Is a Learned Process (and it starts before birth)

The idea that eating is a learned process, and this process starts before birth, can feel surprising at first, but when you look at the science, it actually makes a lot of sense.

What we now understand from Australian research in early nutrition and sensory development is that feeding is not just about hunger or nutrition. It’s about learning, exposure, familiarity, and time.

🍼 Before birth, the learning has already begun

Our first journey to new flavours starts in the womb, as we are introduced to sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter flavours through the amniotic fluid.

This isn’t theoretical anymore. Research in early flavour exposure, including work from Australian nutritional science bodies such as CSIRO, shows that flavour compounds from a mother’s diet can pass into amniotic fluid and later into breastmilk.

So before a baby even takes their first bite, they’ve already had a kind of “flavour preview” of the world.

🧬 The first 1000 days matter more than most parents are told

The first 1000 days of a child’s life play a vital role. It’s the period when the brain, immune system, and body are developing at their fastest rate, and when taste preferences begin to take shape in a lasting way.

This is strongly reflected in Australian public health guidance, including the NHMRC Infant Feeding Guidelines, which describe this window as critical for long-term health and eating patterns.

But it’s important not to overstate this as “set in stone”. What happens in these early years influences direction, not destiny.

Feeding habits are still shaped over time — through family meals, childcare environments, school settings, and even peer influence as children grow.

🍓 Why we’re naturally drawn to sweet foods

From an evolutionary point of view, it makes sense that children (and adults) are naturally drawn to sweet flavours.

Sweet foods historically signalled energy — safe, quick fuel that supported survival during hunter-gatherer times. Fruits, berries, and seeds were reliable sources of energy and didn’t require complex preparation.

That built-in preference still shows up today, even though our food environment looks completely different.

🥦 Why vegetables can feel like a “battle” (and why it’s not really a battle)

Bitter flavours, on the other hand, are often learned over time.

Historically, bitterness was associated with potential toxicity in wild plants, so humans developed a natural caution toward it. That protective response still exists, especially in young children.

So when a child hesitates with foods like broccoli, it’s not defiance — it’s sensory processing.

We also now know there is genuine variation in how people perceive bitterness due to genetic taste receptors. Some children are simply more sensitive than others.

However, Australian research from CSIRO has found something important for parents: even children who are more sensitive to bitter tastes do not necessarily reject vegetables long-term.

Exposure, environment, and repetition still play a stronger role than genetics alone.

🧬 Taste isn’t fixed — it’s shaped through experience

One of the most reassuring findings in feeding research is that taste preferences are flexible.

Even if a child initially rejects a food like broccoli, repeated exposure in low-pressure environments can significantly increase acceptance over time.

Some studies suggest it can take many exposures — sometimes more than 10–15, and in some cases up to 20 — before a child accepts a new food.

This is where many parents unintentionally give up too early, thinking “they don’t like it”, when in reality the learning process is still underway.

👩‍👧 What this actually looks like in everyday family life

As caregivers, it helps to step back from the idea that children “should” like certain foods immediately.

For example, the process of trying broccoli has its historical context, and children especially are more sensitive to the slight bitterness of broccoli, which we may not taste as adults. Additionally, some of us are more sensitive to bitter tastes than others due to a specific bitter-tasting receptor that we have. The genetic factor can play a role in your child not liking the taste of broccoli and other bitter foods. However, CSIRO Australia’s Bitter Taste Status on Vegetable Acceptance in a Child/Adult Cohort study found no evidence of reduced acceptance of vegetables by bitter tasters. Another study showed that offering bitter-tasting food, e.g. raw broccoli with a dip or dressing, can help your child try and consume it more

A better framing is this:
They are learning what this food is, whether it is safe, and how it feels in their world.

That process takes time, and it doesn’t follow a straight line.

Some days a child might touch a food.
Other days they might smell it.
Eventually they might taste it — and sometimes they’ll go backwards again.

That’s all part of normal food learning.

🥕 What the research actually supports (and what works in real homes)

Rather than pressure or persuasion, Australian feeding research consistently supports a few simple, repeatable approaches that families can realistically use.

🥄 Children learn most from what they see

Children are far more influenced by observation than instruction. If they see parents and caregivers eating a variety of foods without fuss, they are more likely to eventually try them too.

It’s not about performing “perfect eating” — it’s just about normalising food variety at the table.

🔁 Repetition matters more than reaction

Repeated exposure is one of the strongest predictors of acceptance.

Offering a food alongside something familiar — like dip, bread, cheese, or fruit — helps reduce resistance without pressure.

The key is consistency without forcing outcomes.

🛒 Involvement builds familiarity

When children are involved in selecting or preparing food, they are more likely to feel safe around it.

This might be as simple as holding fruit at the supermarket or helping stir ingredients at home.

Familiarity often comes before willingness to taste.

🍽️ Mealtimes work best when they’re not about food

One of the most consistent findings in family feeding research is that pressured mealtimes reduce willingness to try new foods.

When mealtimes become about conversation rather than performance, children are more relaxed and more open to exploring food in their own time.

⚖️ Neutrality is more powerful than praise or pressure

It sounds simple, but staying neutral is often the hardest part.

Avoiding big reactions — positive or negative — helps remove pressure from the experience and allows children to engage at their own pace.

👃👋 Food learning is sensory before it is oral

Children explore food with their hands, eyes, nose, and even sound before they taste it.

Touching, smelling, and looking are all part of the acceptance process — not steps to rush through.

🌱 Progress isn’t linear

A child who refuses a food today may accept it in a few weeks or months.

And even if they only eat a small amount or interact with it differently each time, that still counts as exposure.

💛 A grounding reminder for parents

It helps to remember that every adult has foods they like, dislike, or tolerate.

Those preferences didn’t form overnight — they were shaped over years of repeated experiences, culture, environment, and personal comfort.

Children are no different. They are simply at the beginning of that same process.

🧠 What the science tells us (in simple terms)

Flavour learning begins before birth
The first 1000 days are a sensitive developmental window
Repeated exposure increases acceptance
Genetics influence taste sensitivity, but don’t determine outcomes
Pressure reduces willingness to try new foods
Role modelling is one of the strongest influences on eating behaviour

📚 Australian evidence base

This article draws on established Australian research and guidance, including:

NHMRC Infant Feeding Guidelines
CSIRO sensory and food acceptance research
Australian Institute of Family Studies research on family feeding behaviours
University of Sydney infant nutrition and taste development studies
Deakin University behavioural nutrition research
Raising Children Network (Australia) evidence-based parenting guidance

💬 A final thought

Eating is a learned process, and it starts before birth.

But more importantly, it’s a long process — one that unfolds slowly, unevenly, and differently for every child.

As parents, we don’t need to rush it. We just need to keep offering opportunities, keep the environment calm, and trust that learning is happening even when it doesn’t look like it.

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by Nergis from Food Is Cool

Nergis has a Master’s degree in Nutrition, a Bachelors in Communication and has worked as a qualified Chef for many years, bringing her passion for food and children’s nutrition to childcare centres in Australia. She is passionate about connecting, communicating and collaborating with care in both Australia and Europe.