Every parent is concerned about their kids getting proper nutrition. Vegetables are packed with nutrients, but how can they possibly compete for your child's palate when the competition is breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets, and chips? Food scientists have tackled this problem in many ways, and one experiment may be promising.
Researchers have come up with a new way of getting kids to follow a healthy diet: putting more vegetables on their plate.
Larger portions of veggies resulted in kids chomping down 68 percent more of them on average (an extra 21 grams, or 0.74 ounces per day), in a 4-week experiment involving 67 children aged from 3 to 5.
The research team used broccoli and corn as their test vegetables, doubling the amount served – from 60 grams to 120 grams – to see how this would change the eating behavior of the children.
Of course, there's more involved, including what other foods are served and the proportions on the plate. You can read more about this experiment at Science Alert. In my opinion, anyone will eat vegetables if you sauté them with onions, garlic, and spices, but that's setting them up to never eat vegetables from a school cafeteria. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: Angela Sevin)