Behavior strategies sidestep nutrition barriers
Want your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables? Make them
kid-friendly, fast and easy, say behavioral nutritionists at the
USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College
of Medicine in Houston.
"Much of our team's work involves understanding the factors that
keep kids from eating more fruits and vegetables and learning how
to best overcome those barriers," said Janice Baranowski, a registered
dietitian, Baylor assistant professor of pediatrics and an investigator
with the CNRC's behavioral nutrition team.
According to Baranowski, the team has identified three main barriers
to kids' eating more fruits and vegetables: availability, accessibility,
and preference.
The Barrier
|
The Problem
|
Strategy
|
Availability
|
If fruits and vegetables
aren't in the house, kids
can't eat them.
|
Keep the kitchen stocked with 100% juice and canned, fresh
and frozen fruits and vegetables and include them in your
menu planning.
|
Accessibility
|
On-the-go kids won't
remember fruit and vegetables
stored in the crisper or take
time out for washing or peeling.
|
Make ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables an obvious choice
for grab-and-go snacks. Stock refrigerator shelves with
easy-to-reach 100% juice boxes and ready-to-eat fruits and
vegetables, along with a favorite low-fat dip.
|
Preference
|
Kids like the sweet taste of
fruit, but getting them to eat vegetables can be a struggle.
|
Don't give up. Kids can learn to like vegetables-it's
simply a matter of taste and experience. Remember that
some kids need to taste a new food up to 14 times before they
accept it.
|
Baranowski also suggests that parents:
- Make the "5-a-day" concept more manageable by encouraging kids to
set a goal of one serving of fruit, juice or vegetable at each meal
and two servings for snacks.
- Allow kids to help decide which fruit or vegetable will be
eaten at each meal or snack period.
- Involve kids in recipe selection, produce shopping and preparation
of mealtime fruit and vegetable dishes. "We find that kids usually
eat the dishes that they help select and prepare, and that parents,
sometimes out of sheer love, will eat them, too," Baranowski said.
"The key to overcoming healthy eating barriers is to keep nutritious
choices like fruit and vegetable so visible, so easy and so appealing
that kids hardly notice they're eating healthier," she said.
Consumer
News-- Nutrition and Your Child Newsletter
|
|
