Why We Don't Eat More Fruits & Veggies.

We know we don’t eat nearly enough fruits and veggies.  And we know we ignore public official advice (threats might be more like it) to eat more of them.

But parents I talk to say they’re BORING.

New research supports the idea that fruits and vegetables can bore us.  Not because of the way they taste, but because when we think about eating fruits and vegetables, we only ever consider a small group of contenders. 

What’s the big deal? 

• It’s unlikely that people will ever decide they want to eat, say, leafy greens, if they never think about them. 

• Admonitions to eat more fruits and vegetables fall on deaf ears because it makes people think about increasing their consumption of the same-old, same-old.  As my daughter would say, that’s “b-o-o-o-o-o-r-i-n-g.”  We need more variety.

If you were asked to list 3 fruits and vegetables, what would you include?

If you are like most people you would say: apples, carrots, bananas, and oranges.  (That’s what the researchers found when they asked almost 1000 people this question.)

If you’re adventurous, you might think of strawberries or broccoli and if you’re really adventurous you might even consider tomatoes or corn.  

But what about cauliflower, asparagus and kale? Forget about them.

Only 13 different fruits and vegetables were mentioned by 95% of the studied group. Here they are (in order of frequency):

1. apple                       
2. carrot
3. banana                       
4. orange
5. strawberry           
6. broccoli
7. lettuce                       
8. grapes
9. corn                       
10. pineapple
11. tomato                       
12. watermelon
13. green beans

Our kids probably have an even smaller list.

Now, I hear your objection: if people are only given a chance to write down 3 fruits and vegetables, how diverse can the list be?

Well, consumer behavior research has established that people only consider their top thoughts when making choices.

Sure, you could list a whole lot more fruits and vegetables, but that tests your memory.   It’s the foods you think about most readily that shape your behavior.  It’s all about habits.

The challenge to get your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables begins by expanding the foods they think about.

There are 56 different items in the vegetable category of the food pyramid.  Print out the list and introduce your kids to them all.  Make a game of it by turning your kids into food critics.  Let them rate and rank their preferences.

See Food Pyramid vegetable list.

The more veggies your kids quickly recall, the more of them they’ll eat.

~ Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits. ~

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Source:

Brown-Kramer, C. R., M. T. Kiviniemi, and J. A. Winseman. 2009. “Food Exemplar Salience. What Foods Do People Think of When You Tell Them to Change Their Diet?” Appetite 52: 753-56.

The Truth About "Child-Friendly" Foods

Child Friendly Foods? Kids might eat them, but they’re decidedly unfriendly.  They should be called Ruin-Your-Child-For-Real-Food Foods instead.

One study examined 367 “child-friendly” foods and found that …

• 70% have too much sugar.
• 23% have too much fat.
• 17% have too much salt.

Only 11% provide good nutritional value.

But poor nutrition isn’t the only reason to limit “child-friendly” foods.  They damage your kids’ habits as well.

Kids who get used to sweet, salty and high-fat foods, are more likely to reject the fruits and vegetables you’re always trying to get them to eat because they are on the opposite end of the taste spectrum.

There’s nothing wrong with an occasional chicken nugget, bowl of mac ‘n cheese, or even a hot dog.  But when “child-friendly” foods make up the bulk of your kids’ diet, they end up shrinking your kids’ palates.

Experientially, all kids-foods are basically the same.  They’re usually sweet, often quite soft (although sometimes they’re crunchy) and they are always relatively bland.

If you want to introduce your kids to new foods, start by substituting "child-friendly" foods for "real" versions of the same stuff.

51% of children’s food products have pictures of fruit on the package, but no actual fruit inside.  But even those that do contain real fruit rarely resemble the real deal.

For instance, Dole Mandarins in Orange Gel has two tablespoons of added sugar (so twice the calories) and half the fiber of a real mandarin orange. 

In other words, eating Dole Mandarins in Orange Gel – this ultra sweet, gooey, glob of stuff that sort of resembles an orange -- is an entirely different experience than eating an actual mandarin orange.  And it's the experience that matters most.

 ~ Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits. ~

See The Variety Masquerade and How Brands Bite You in the Butt! for more on this topic.

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Sources:

Wiley-Blackwell (2008, July 15). 89 Percent of Children’s Food Products Provide Poor Nutritional Quality, Study Finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080714102439.htm 

Zinczenko, D. and M. Goulding, 2008. Eat This Not That for Kids. New York, NY: Rodale. pp. 151 & 158.

How Brands Bite You in the Butt!

Kraft Macaroni ‘n Cheese.  Annie’s Bunnies.  Stonyfield Yogurt.  We love our brands.

Brands are a godsend.  They make shopping and cooking a snap, especially after you’ve found products your kids will happily eat.

But for parents trying to teach their kids about new foods, the miracle of manufacturing -- that food producers always turn out the exact same product (same taste, same texture, same look, same smell) -- is also a curse.   

When brand names become an eating habit, kids won’t accept even small variations in the foods they eat.

Giving kids who are reluctant to try new foods a Skippy Peanut Butter sandwich every day – because that’s the brand they demand -- is akin to parental suicide; it’s like begging your kids never to try anything new again.

The more your children expect blueberry yogurt to taste exactly like – and only like – the way Stonyfield makes their blueberry yogurt, the less open they are to foods that are different.

Does it matter if that’s how your kids relate to yogurt?  Not so much (although it might if they’re starving some afternoon and you find the local grocer is out of that kind of yogurt). But if you have children who only eat Tyson chicken nuggets, Polly-O cheese, and Eggo waffles, then the pattern of sameness is working against you.

See The Variety Masquerade for more on this.

If you hope that someday your children will try asparagus, salmon, or even a new kind of juice, you have to start by breaking the bonds your kids have to their beloved brands.

Work on getting your kids to eat orange and yellow cheese, to move beyond Skippy to Jif, and to embrace Keebler in addition to Nabisco.

If your children are attached to one brand of yogurt…

• Buy different flavors of the same brand.
• Buy different brands but stick to the same flavor.
• Transfer the yogurt to an unmarked container (tell your kids the container broke) and then gradually change the flavor over time by adding more and more of a different brand of yogurt.
• Make your own flavored yogurt by adding jam to plain yogurt.

And if your children are attached to a particular chicken nugget…

• Cut the nugget into different shapes so it starts to look different. (Let your children see you do this so they believe you that it’s the same kind of chicken.)
• Buy different shapes of the same chicken nugget brand.
• Mix-in pieces of a different brand of chicken nugget.

How readily your kids accept new foods is a reflection of the foods they’re exposed to on a regular and repeated basis – or their habits.  So mix it up for maximum success.

 ~ Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits. ~