Parents, eat your veggies!
2008-08-26 12:43
New York - Parents who want their
preschoolers to eat their fruits and vegetables should probably
practice what they preach, a new study suggests.
In a study of more than 1 300 families, researchers found
that when parents boosted their own consumption of fruits and
vegetables, so did their young children.
The findings, reported in the journal Preventive Medicine,
point to the importance of parents "modelling" a healthy diet
for their preschoolers.
They also suggest that educating
parents on nutrition early on could help address the problem of
childhood obesity, the researchers say.
About half of parents in the study were randomly assigned
to receive home visits where they learned about nutrition and
tactics for getting their children to eat fruits and
vegetables.
On average, these parents increased their fruit and
vegetable intake, and in turn so did their children.
'Tremendous influence'
"We know that parents have a tremendous influence over how
many fruits and vegetables their children eat," lead researcher
Dr Debra Haire-Joshu, of Saint Louis University School of
Public Health in St Louis, commented in a written statement.
"When parents eat more fruits and vegetables, so do their
children," she added.
"When parents eat and give their children
high fat snacks or soft drinks, children learn these eating
patterns instead."
The one exception was children who were already overweight,
who generally did not grow fonder of fruits and vegetables.
"Overweight children," Haire-Joshu said, "have already been
exposed to salty, sweet foods and learned to like them.
"To keep a child from becoming overweight, parents need to expose them
early to a variety of health foods and offer the foods many
times."