If your kids turn up their noses at turnips and push away their peas, you're certainly not alone. Kids are often picky when it comes to eating their veggies because of the unfamiliar tastes and textures. But a new research study shows that if vegetable tasting is made into a game, kids are far more likely to end up accepting the new dish.
The Baltimore Sun reports that for this study, a group of British researchers recruited a large group of families with 3-year-old twins. Half of the families were given a kit called "Tiny Tastes" that included booklets, reward stickers, and a link to instructional videos online. The idea behind the kit was that tasting vegetables becomes a game and an adventure, rather than something forced. For two weeks, kids were asked to take a tiny taste of a veggie they don't like, and then got to choose a sticker as a reward for trying the new food. Simple.
The other half of the families in the study was asked to follow their usual methods of getting kids to eat veggies.
Parents chose vegetables like red peppers, carrots, and celery. At the beginning of the study period, only 39 of 196 kids would eat the selected vegetable. That's a dismal 20 percent. But by the end, 72 percent of kids who did the Tiny Tastes program were eating the veggie they'd previously refused. Pretty impressive, I'd say!
In the control group, only five kids were eating the selected vegetable by the end of the study period.
Dr. Jane Wardle, one of the authors on the study, noted that kids not only ate more of the vegetable by the end of the Tiny Tastes trial, but they actually liked eating it. And best of all: Families had fun. "Parents and children both enjoyed it, and many parents went on to use the same approach for other foods," Wardle says.
The researchers published their findings in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The Tiny Tastes approach seems like a great way to encourage healthy eating without forcing the issue. After all, the American Academy of Pediatrics (and many other experts) says that a child may need to try a food 10-15 times before accepting it. The Tiny Tastes program, which specifies eating the same vegetable every day for 2 weeks, offers a good chance for kids to get used to a vegetable and possibly even like it.
Only a little piece of the food is needed. And even just licking an unfamiliar food can get the ball rolling. If parents stop serving foods after the first time their kids reject it (or even after the fifth time, or the tenth time!), they may actually be perpetuating the picky eating habit. Patience, persistence, and a fun approach can make a huge difference in kids' veggie acceptance.
I am definitely going to try this. My kids will eat some fruits and veggies, but my oldest son has refused most of them. He struggles with texture. But he loves stickers and is very competitive, so if we make vegetable tasting into a fun game, we might actually find success.
If you'd like more information about the program, or want to order a kit to try for yourself, check out the Tiny Tastes webpage.
How do you get your kids to eat veggies? Share experiences below.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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