While the body of evidence for feeding recommendations for children continues to evolve, one constant remains: Children do not eat enough vegetables. In fact, more than 90% of young children fail to meet vegetable recommendations, and these patterns often persist into adolescence and adulthood, making it important to understand the factors involved in establishing feeding patterns in early childhood. Are children not eating their vegetables because of texture, lack of role modeling, negative sensory experience, delayed introduction, bitter taste, infrequent exposure, rejection of any new foods, or are they just plain picky and stubborn?
A panel of leading nutrition experts convened on Friday, March 27 to discuss these issues in an American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Satellite Session, "Science and Policy: Adopting a Fruitful Vegetable Encounter for Our Children," in conjunction with ASN's Annual Meeting, held as part of Experimental Biology 2015. The symposium was sponsored by the Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to expanding and translating potato nutrition research into science-based policy and education initiatives.
Ron Kleinman, MD, Physician in Chief at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-chair of the symposium, noted that while it is well established that low vegetable consumption is a major dietary concern for infants and young children, a better understanding of current food consumption behaviors and behavior change strategies is needed to increase daily vegetable intake, particularly in light of the current evidence analysis and development of Dietary Guidelines for the birth-to-24 months age group.
"In the research that has been conducted to date, repeated exposure has been shown to have the most consistent impact on increasing vegetable acceptance in young children," says Susan Johnson, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Director of The Children's Eating Laboratory at University of Colorado-Denver. "It appears that many children need to try a new food 8 to 12 times in order to learn to like it, while parents often give up after 3 to 5 tries if the food is rejected. The bottom line is that in order for kids to eat vegetables, parents have to offer them consistently and persistently."
Co-chaired by Kleinman and Theresa Nicklas, DrPH, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, the symposium examined the state of the science on vegetable feeding practices and consumption patterns, including theories on environmental and cultural influences on children's food acceptance, the impact of various policies on vegetable access, the influence of early exposure on the development of taste preferences, and the economic and nutrition implications of vegetable plate waste in schools.
Presenters covered a variety of topics, including:
Collectively, the symposium presentations demonstrated that young children do not meet recommendations for vegetable and potato intake and that consumption of all types of vegetables should be encouraged. White potatoes, with or without skin and regardless of how they are cooked, provide a significant source of shortfall nutrients including potassium (760 mg in a small baked potato with skin) and fiber (3.2 g), are well-accepted by children and may be an important strategy to help children eat more vegetables.
Several of the presentations are based on papers submitted for publication in an upcoming supplement to the peer-reviewed journal, Advances in Nutrition , which will help enhance the foundational guidance for feeding vegetables to young children in the 2020 Dietary Guidelines. A full video of the symposium will be available on ASN's website in the coming weeks.
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The Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE) is a not-for-profit organization 100% dedicated to expanding and translating scientific research into evidence-based policy and education initiatives that recognize the role of all forms of the potato--a nutritious vegetable--in promoting health for all age groups. APRE is actively building the science foundation concerning the nutritional benefits of the white potato; creating partnerships with critical health professional organizations in the United States and Canada; and informing dietitians and health professionals by providing them with the latest scientific research and information on potato nutrition, consumption, and affordability. For more, visit http://www.apre.org
Advances in Nutrition