What鈥檚 an easy way to help kids eat more fruits and vegetables?
Make healthy foods convenient and give them more time to eat them. has found that eating healthier is associated with better school performance. Here鈥檚 something I wrote about the topic for Character Lab as a :
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 eat your vegetables, you can鈥檛 have dessert.鈥�
That鈥檚 just one of the many tactics parents have tried in the struggle to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. But what actually works?
In a recent study, my colleagues and I found that simply increasing the duration of family meals by approximately 10 minutes can be effective.
Our study was conducted in Germany, so we offered the participants a typical German dinner of sliced bread, cold cuts of cheese and meat, and bite-sized pieces of fruits and vegetables. At one dinner, the meal lasted as long as the family鈥檚 usual duration (20 minutes on average). At the next dinner, it lasted 50 percent longer (10 more minutes on average). When the families sat longer at the table, the children ate seven additional bites of fruits and vegetables鈥攖he equivalent of a medium-sized apple鈥攚ithout increasing their intake of the other foods offered.
One possible explanation is that the fruits and vegetables were cut into small pieces, making them convenient to eat. Grabbing more fruit may have seemed easier than topping a slice of bread with cheese.
And the longer meals didn鈥檛 lead to eating more dessert. The more relaxed pace allowed children to eat more slowly, with the additional fruits and vegetables helping them feel fuller. Both kids and parents improved their diet without even realizing it.
顿辞苍鈥檛 encourage fast eating by letting young people leave the table as soon as they鈥檙e done.
Do extend family dinners by 10 minutes and serve fruits and vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces. If you try to make meals pleasant and joyful鈥攕ay, by playing music and talking about interesting topics (not grades!)鈥攜ou can create an environment that facilitates healthy eating.
