Here's a low-cost and very healthy breakfast of champions for young children:

[pnwmom]

132. Science has documented children's sensitivity to bitter tastes.

But it is true that cultural factors can overcome a natural aversion to bitter foods.

http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/Article/Taste-Flavor-Preferences-in-Children-2.aspx

Children are born with an evolutionary preference for sweet tastes and avoidance of bitter shaped in utero. "This learning occurs early in life. By learning about how children learn, we can help them get on the right path," Dr. Mennella told ADVANCE. "As you get older, there are other cognitive influences. We don't always eat what we like, although it is a primary driver of consumption. Childhood is a time in life when taste is particularly salient."

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As much as children are drawn to sweetness, they have an innate avoidance of bitter flavor. "Bitter is a taste signal for poisons," Dr. Mennella noted. Bitter taste tolerance can be learned through repeated exposure to foods. The predisposition to dislike bitter flavors can present difficulties for children who must take oral medications. "The No. 1 reason for noncompliance with oral medication is taste," she said.

Recent flavor research increasingly has focused on understanding the biology of bitter taste. "It's really important for us to detect bitter and reject it," she noted.

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Taste and flavor preferences differ not only between adults and children but among individuals, families and cultures as well. "Not only are children living in different sensory worlds from adults, but each child and adult differs from the one next to them," she said. Flavor preferences vary widely. "There is a lot of variation in some bitter receptors. You may be very sensitive to bitter, while the person next to you may not be able to detect it."