Kids Who Choose Their Veggies Won't Necessarily Eat More
I'm not a parent, but I want to hit a kid now! I guess children really are allergic to vegetables.
Its cliché, the family sits down for dinner, mom fills Junior's plate, and he eats everything else, but pushes his broccoli around.
What if it were carrots instead? Maybe then he'd eat it. How about giving your kid a choice, let them pick their vegetable, would that help?
Not really.
A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, shows giving children different vegetable options before or during meals doesn't mean they'll eat more vegetables.
In fact, they ate the most when they didn't have a choice.
Results of the research revealed kids offered pre-meal choices ate 51 grams of vegetables, 49 grams for those offered a choice during meals, and 56 grams for children given no choice at all.
Call me a brutal dictator, but I like the last option. It worked for me, and I love vegetables now. My mom ruled with an iron fist. In fact, I didn't even know there were words like "option" or "choice" until I was a teenager.
Via Reuters.
Amen! I give my fussy 8 yr old about 1/4th of the amount of salad the rest of us eat...but he does have to eat it.
ReplyI'm not so sure I agree with you two. I think that when a child reaches a certain age you have to start listining to them because it might be less about fussiness and more about strong dislike.
For me growing up it was eggs. On a saturday morning my mom would say I wasn't allowed to leave the table until I finished my eggs. I would often still be at the table at 1pm.
To this day, as an adult who can eat or refuse anything I want, I'm still disgusted by eggs. The smell gives me a headache and the site of them makes me ill.
So yes I think that sometimes you need to listen to the child.
ReplyIf you've ever read any of the fabulous research by Professor Leanne Birch you'll find that what she suggests is that with patience and various clever ideas (I write about these in my book: Mom, pass the Broccoli) you can get children to eat almost every vegetable. But I definitely disagree with trying to force a child to eat vegetables - in my view that's totally counter-productive!
ReplyWhat about the long term affects of engaging in power-struggles about food?
My 1.5 year old eats every vegetable. It's what she sees us eating. And we don't smother them in butter and overcook them and make them lose all real flavor. I intend to always make her take a bite, try it, but never going to force her to eat something she doesn't want to.
ReplyI don't think we should be forcing children to eat vegetables, just leading by example. So, it's important that parents demonstrate a positive attitude about food, serving up different varieties of vegetables often, and giving the opportunity to try many times if necessary before children eat a plate-full.
I love the ideas found in Lucy Thomas’s book, “Mange Tout: Teaching Your Children to Love Fruit and Vegetables Without Tears,” it's all about making eating fruit and veggies fun by using songs, rhymes and games, etc.
ReplyI must admit my kids don't get a choice - they get veggies on their plate and they eat them. There are some that they really don't like, so we don't have those, but once we selected the ones they do like (wuite is quite a lot) they eat them - no problem.
ReplyYou want to HIT a kid? And just out of your own frustration? That is in unbelievable poor taste. I'm surprised no-one else has said anything. I really hope you never have children.
ReplyOkay, now that I've gotten past the hitting part. You are talking about 7 grams of vegetables here for kids given a choice and kids given no choice. That is not a huge difference. Is that really worth the power struggles? Are the kids who are getting only 49 grams of vegetables really that much less healthy than the stressed out kids getting 56?
ReplyThese discussions always make me laugh. My child has had broccoli sitting on her plate for the last 5 years or so. Does she choose to eat it? No.
If I want her to eat it I have to tell her to, and she does a mediocre job of it. Same with most other veggies.
Having veg on her plate did not make her miraculously want veg. Watching me eat veg did not make her want to veg either.
Just my 2c.
ReplyPerhaps it's more to do with each individual child than what the parents make them, or don't make them eat?? I don't know!
ReplyI grew up in a family where we basically had to eat whatever veggies my dad made us eat. Some nights it was broccoli, some nights it was zucchini, some nights it was a veggie soup with all kinds of things in it. My parents always ate all the same things we ate, so we never felt like we were forced to eat anything.
Incidentally, my brother in law, who grew up in a house where eating one's veggies was completely optional, is now a 25-year old with the palate of a 2 year old and he never eats veggies. He also has triglyceride levels that are very much above normal, even after fasting for 10-12 hours. So yeah, eating veggies is always a good idea.
ReplyMy kids always have a choice: eat what's provided at dinner or wait until breakfast to eat again. They've never gone without dinner. Avoid creating a picky eater by not making separate meals just because they say they don't like X. Most of the time it's a control issue. If there is something I'm pretty sure my kids won't eat, only then will I make something separate for them. For example, I made a Thai curry the other night. Totally unkid friendly so I made them an alternate meal. Otherwise they eat what we eat.
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