What if they emphasized... taste?!

[sarahmichigan]

Sandy again has a great post about how programs to fight the so-called "obesity epidemic" through getting kids to eat more fruits and veggies tend to be dismal failures. On the whole, children already know that they should be eating 5 fruits and veggies a day, and the most rigorous studies show that these interventions -at best- get kids eating a whole whopping half a fruit or veggie more per day after months of propaganda. As the article notes, the kids hear this propaganda over and over and eventually just tune it out.

As I was reading, I couldn't help wonder if  hammering home health lessons was the wrong approach. What if they actually taught ways to make cooking and baking with fruits and veggies more fun and flavorful and emphasized how good these foods can taste?

Oh no, we couldn't have kids thinking you ever eat food because it tastes good. You should ONLY eat food that makes you healthy, no matter what it tastes like.

Comments

[theal8r.livejournal.com]

Honestly, we have a lot of bad food habits and hang ups (as a culture, whatever). My kids LOVE fruits and veggies, although Bryn doesn't like berries of any sort. Bryn is a salad freak and will often choose to have salad over peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Another thing is that we don't have a lot of junk food in the house. In fact, we still have HALLOWEEN CANDY (and Yule candy) that the kids haven't eaten.

We eat what we like even bad stuff, but we try to make sure that "bad stuff" portion sizes are reasonable. Ice cream? Check. Soda (yup, the kids drink cherry 7-up and root beer because they love it, but no more than one a day (and usually not even that much) because it is a treat, not a staple) and juice? Check

Favorite veggies? asparagus, brocolli and sweet potatoes.

Also, Both children have their own cookbooks that they can choose recipes to help make. That and we did hang up the food pyramid on the fridge for a long time to teach them what they need... And us, too.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

I can't tell if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me or just ruminating on kids and food. :)

I don't think our culture has as many "bad food habits" as some people want us to think we have. I mostly think there's a moral panic about food and anything that makes food taste good (sugar, fat, salt) is unfairly demonized. Sure, we could all use some additional fruits and veggies in our diets and less processed food, but the hysteria has to stop. If our diets are so crappy, why are we healthier than ever before (statistically speaking)?

[theal8r.livejournal.com]

ruminating on kids and food. A lot of moms on "mom forums" I read now and then wonder why their kids eat like crap and hate everything but never look at what it is that they have in the house or the habits they teach the kids in the first place.

But Brian and I believe in moderation in all things. Living will eventually kill you, after all :)

[stacycat69.livejournal.com]

I read something about how they were encouraging food stamp recipients to eat more fruits and vegetables. After the intervention, they were eating more fruits and vegetables per day, but then the nutritionist said something like "they were eating more fruits and vegetables, but they did not reduce their intake of other foods, thus leading to an 300 calorie increase, which could be problematic." argh!

I fully agree with you, even if I dont eat lots of fruits and vegetables :) The entire emphasis is on eating for health, because god forbid we ever eat for pleasure! That would ruin things and create a rift in the space time continuum :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_earthshine_/]

From a nutrition standpoint, which is all we really care about over here, we're always trying to help the kids learn to appreciate veggies. (Fruits are less of a problem.) Getting them into other foods as ingredients is one way for sure.

Also, tho, from what i hear (sources various), there's a lot of truth to the idea that kids tastes develop around trying foods, too. I think our pediatrician said something like 12 separate times of "trying a new food" are sometimes required to really let a child's mouth develop to a true decision of whether or not they like something. We don't shovel food down the kids throats, of course, but often we give them a very small (trial-size) portion of everything on the table and say that they need to eat at least that little of everything before they can have more of anything. (Of course, if they're just not hungry and don't want anything, that's okay -- they just can't eat all the potatoes and ask for more unless they try the broccoli.)

We also try to respond to different ways to prepare the food, too. Cooked spinach is not so popular, but raw spinach greens go over okay, and so forth. Above all, we want to encourage them to try things, and also encourage their palates in healthy directions, but in the end we're raising people who, as adults, are going to eat what they like, and we try to approach it with that end goal in mind.

[synapsomatic.livejournal.com]

I was a corn and potatoes and raw carrots little girl, and only ate salad with iceberg lettuce (and cucs, carrots, tomatoes, croutons) drowned in dressing. I couldn't stand anything else. Except this pasta my mother would occasionally make, with chicken and spices and veggies and pineapple, and the sauce had to be, I think, just olive oil and white wine, or something like that. And trust me, my parents tried, I just couldn't get much past the gag reflex. By high school I could stand a bit more, but only mixed in with other stuff--like some kind of wrap, sometimes salad with more exotic things, or a pasta dish. But straight up veggies, any-which-way, I just hated.

And then, no lie, one day when I was 23, I was hit with a sudden need for just a bowl of cooked mixed veggies, totally generic and totally plain. I had to go out to the store that day. I never ate mixed veggies, because I didn't like anything in it except the corn, everything else was utterly disgusting to me. But that day, it was like my body flipped a switch and I craved veggies and they were delicious. Now I'll eat asparagus, Brussels sprouts, green beans, bell peppers, any variety of mushrooms, whatever. (Although, I'm still not crazy about summer squashes by themselves. If their flavor is a bit disguised, I'm fine with it.)

But, all in all, I definitely agree that the real problem is just not finding a way to make veggies taste good. I recall someone telling me about some guy from India, I think, who of course, like most of the world, wondered why on earth Americans have such a problem with veggies. Then when he moved here, he realized why, and he was astounded that most people just cook them so bland, by themselves, and they don't do anything with them! And he said, "No wonder you people hate vegetables! You don't know have a clue how to make them!" :)

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

Of late I always keep a few super-crisp red delicious apples around. They're like a dessert that can be eaten any time. I never liked breakfast much, but most days I'll cut up an apple and eat it on the train to work. It's enough to tide me over a couple of hours until lunch. I still do have Snickers bars, Little Debbie swiss cake rolls, and girl scout Samoas around, but they're lasting a lot longer because I'm eating apples or honey roasted peanuts more in the "gots da munchies" moments.

[munin218.livejournal.com]

good idea!