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Study: Kids More Likely To Eat Fruit If Parents Do

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, kids can be picky.

"I like blueberries and blackberries," says toddler Brady Lawrence.
"We tried red raspberries," adds his mother, Kristen Lawrence of the North HIlls. But Brady didn't like them.

Having a grandchild who doesn't like vegetables worries this grandma.

"I think it's good for children to get a more rounded diet," says Arlene McCray of the North Hills. "But his dad wasn't a good eater, either."

Children are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if their parents do, according to a study of more than 1,300 families in the journal Preventive Medicine.

"Children, like adults, will eat what's available when they're hungry," says Dr. Goutham Rao, an obesity expert at Children's Hospital's Weight Management Center.

All of the families were in a parenting skills program. With five one-hour long home visits, half the families also got extra education in nutrition. They learned about how to get kids to eat fruits and vegetables. They ate the food in front of the children and allowed them to choose which ones they wanted to eat.

"The way they did it is just too expensive. We couldn't do that here," says Dr. Rao about this intense approach.

This group had a higher fruit and vegetable intake -- for both the parents and the children.

"I think it's better to do it through the schools, and actually incorporate it into school curricula, with something the kids can take home to their parents, to educate the parents as well," Dr. Rao suggests.

There was no increase in fondness for fruits and vegetables for children who were already overweight. "There's a critical period where kids develop their tastes and preferences, and that's between age 2 to 5 or so. As they get older, it gets extremely hard to change that. And fruits and vegetables just don't appeal to them," the doctor explains.

He recommends that parents start introducing vegetables and other healthy foods as early as possible. Try them over again at a later time if your child spits it out at first. Gradually changing the diet by swapping a less healthy food with a more healthy choice, one at a time, can be helpful if your child has already made his or her favorites clear.

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