New Research Shows How To Get Children To Eat Their Vegetables

Writer: Zach Washington on Aug 8 2010.

New research: Children’s vegetable intake linked to Popeye cartoons

There’s new research published in the journal Nutrition and Dietetics showing the effect of Popeye cartoons, food tasting parties and cooking classes geared to kids that can assist in increasing the amount of vegetables in children’s diet.

Children will come to love vegetables more after they are exposed to activities employing multimedia and personalities they can identify with,  revealed the researchers at Mahidol University in Bangkok.

During two month’s period, the researchers made a record of types and quantities of fruits and vegetables consumed by twenty six kindergarten children aged four to five who participated in the program, before and after it.

Lead researcher Professor Chutima Sirikulchayanonta said: “We got the children planting vegetable seeds, taking part in fruit and vegetable tasting parties, cooking vegetable soup, and watching Popeye cartoons. We also sent letters to parents with tips on encouraging their kids to eat fruit and vegetables, and teachers sat with children at lunch to role model healthy eating.’

The program, Professor Sirikulchayanonta and her colleagues discovered did not only increased vegetable intake from two kinds to four but also the consumption increasing twice as much. Children are talking more about vegetables than before and are full of pride to have done so in the school, parents reported.

No substantial change was recorded in fruit consumption owing to the fact that the children may have been eating enough fruits compared to vegetables, at the beginning of the research, she said.

In Australia’s last held nutrition survey, it was discovered that children are consuming a lot of saturated fats, sweet and salty foods, with fruit and vegetables sorely lacking in their diets. Of those surveyed, a mere 61% of the four to eight year old bracket consumed the quantity suggested for fruits, and not even one child consume sufficient amount of vegetables out of four children.

The study revealed further, that if children start eating vegetables at a younger age, the habit will be carried on to their adult life. Giving children healthy foods when they’re younger can have a significant influence on their health as future adults.

The study also focused on the following:

• Children will feel important if you sit and eat the same kind of food with them.

• Comparing the tastes of foods and vegetables are more fun with other children during food tasting events.

• Letting children participate in food preparation like measuring, stirring and carrying the containers, will train them in identifying the names and color of foods and will build the hand and eye skill.

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