ENCOURAGING children to eat their vegetables can be the bane of many parents’ lives.
The University of Reading is helping mums and dads overcome this age-old challenge through an innovative series of books called SEE & EAT, which were launched at Saturday’s Community Festival.
Research led by the university’s Prof Carmel Houston-Price has shown that pre-schoolers are more likely to eat vegetables if they are already familiar with how the vegetable looks and where it comes from.
This is especially true for vegetables they don’t like or haven’t tried before.
Prof Houston-Price explained: “We know it can be really hard for parents to introduce their toddlers and preschoolers to a healthy diet, particularly if their child doesn’t enjoy eating vegetables and other healthy foods.
“My research group at the University of Reading have been looking at ways to make it easier for parents to introduce vegetables, in particular, into their preschooler’s diet.”
She added that there are a wide range of ways to help get children familiar with food types and where they come from.
A method which proved particularly successful was to show youngsters aged from 18 months to four years pictures of how different foods grow, and the journey it takes from ‘farm to fork’.
The department came up with various resources, such as a free e-book which can be read to children, but were encouraged to produce hard copies of the books to be read in the traditional way following interest from parents.
Prof Houston-Price’s research demonstrated that children were often more willing to taste vegetables after looking at a SEE & EAT book than they were beforehand. They ultimately eat more and ‘seem to enjoy it more’.
This will certainly make mealtimes more enjoyable for parents, too.
