Getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables is a battle for school boards and parents, but researchers have found a solution.
Researchers have found through a trial session that if fruits and vegetables are made into meals that are delicious to eat, kids will eat the necessary nutrients, according to the Washington Post.
As taste and choice are both important, hiring a chef to improve children’s lunches may be the way to go.
“When choosing what to eat, children are particularly influenced by the environment in which food is presented,” read the editorial that accompanies the recent study.
It continued, “‘Choice architecture’ is the application of behavioral economic principles to the design of environment in which decisions are made.”
For the recent study, students at 14 elementary and middle schools in two urban, low-income Massachusetts school districts, were given food that were tweaked by chefs, according to the LA Times. Three months after the chefs altered the menus and offered food-preparation tips to cafeteria workers, a change could be seen.
Students were reportedly seen choosing to put more vegetables on their trays, even though they weren’t necessarily eating them. At four months, participating schools were reportedly divided into two groups.
In one group, fresh fruit, unsweetened nonfat milk and other healthy choices were displayed in attractive bowls and in promotional posters while in the other group, foods were displayed as they always were with healthy and less-healthy options getting the same type of presentation.
Researchers reportedly found that when fruits and vegetables looked and tasted better, kids chose them more often and actually ate them too.
The new study showed that 78 percent of the participating students chose to eat fruits and 76 percent chose to eat vegetables. On average, 59 percent of the fruits and 53 percent of the vegetables were eaten.
“After long-term exposure to the enhanced meals, the chef intervention, led to significant increases in the amounts of fruits and vegetables consumed,” wrote the researchers.
They added, “This was likely because of the increased palatability of the foods, an increase in the variety of fresh fruit options, and the weekly presence of a professional chef in the lunchroom.”