Clever parenting will get kids eating right

Kids in Thailand eat dried shrimp and lemon grass-flavoured rice without pooh-poohing the flavours.

Japanese children enjoy grilled fish, raw egg, miso soup and fermented soybeans — for breakfast!

But you’re desperate to get your six-year-old to taste anything healthier or more flavourful than a french fry or spaghetti with butter and cheese.

So you purée veggies in fruit smoothies and opt for supplements just to get some nutrients into your youngster.

Not bad moves, but we’re betting you can expand your child’s food favourites if you’ll expand yours.

Parental behaviour is crucial in shaping a child’s food preferences.

For most kids, flavour choices are a result of nurture more often than nature, maybe even starting in the womb. Research suggests moms who eat junk food when pregnant tend to have kids who eat junk food and are overweight.

And even kids who do have a physiological aversion to certain flavours (many react strongly to bitter tastes) eventually can learn to expand their list of acceptable foods. Repeated exposure alters flavour perception. So dish up broccoli in clever ways: Grilled, in a creamy soup, cold with a yogurt dip. Take time to cook good food in tasty ways, and stop feeding your child processed, salty and sugary foods (they ruin the palate, making it difficult to appreciate other flavours). That kid of yours will naturally ask for another serving of edamame (soybeans), asparagus and oven-roasted kale.