A new research has suggested that infants and toddlers should be offered vegetables early as it helps them develop taste for greens. Experts from the University of Leeds have claimed that before children reach the age of two, they are more willing to try different types of vegetables and do not respond to new foods too much as they grow older.

The researchers also found during the study that children started to like different foods if they were offered those foods more frequently.

Lead researcher Professor Marion Hetherington of the University's Institute of Psychological Sciences and her colleagues suggested that it is not necessary for parents to add sweetener to vegetables to make their kids like them. The research team found that children start developing taste for greens when offered at early age and regularly.

"If you want to encourage your children to eat vegetables, make sure you start early and often. Even if your child is fussy or does not like veggies, our study shows that 5-10 exposures will do the trick", she said in a statement.

The researchers conducted the study on 332 European children between the ages of four and 38 months. They provided each youngster with between five and 10 servings of at least 100g of the puree. The puree was given in one of three varieties: basic, sweetened with sugar, or mixed with vegetable oil for additional energy.

It was found that 20% of children ate artichoke completely from their plates, whereas 40% started to like artichoke more on each serving. The researchers also noticed that younger children consumed more artichoke than the older participants. The reason behind older children not liking artichoke was cited to be tendency of children to become reluctant to try new foods and develop a dislike for foods that they previously enjoyed after the age of two.