Kids try more veggies with flavored dips, research finds

Parents who have a difficult time getting their children to eat vegetables might need to try a new approach.

Food and nutrition researchers at the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Penn State found that pairing vegetables with flavored dips helps kids try vegetables – including food that they previously wouldn't touch.

Repeated exposure works

Working with 34 kids between the ages of 3 and 5, researchers gauged which vegetables the children either liked or disliked. They had the children rate different foods as being either "yummy," "just okay" or "yucky" – both when eaten alone and then again when eaten with Miracle Whip reduced-fat dips.

Researchers found that children were three times more likely to refuse a vegetable on its own than if it was paired with a dip, and that they consumed more of a vegetable they previously disliked when it was served with a dip than when eaten alone.

"Repeated exposure is a way to get kids to like new foods," study lead Jennifer S. Savage said in a statement. "This has been demonstrated in previous studies. But first you have to get them to taste the vegetable. Plus, the servings do not need to be huge – the key may be to start by offering really small portions."

Yucky veggies can turn yummy

Celery and squash were found to be two of the least-liked vegetables that were tested. Yet the children ate more of each vegetable when paired with a dip than when eaten alone. The amount of squash eaten doubled, researchers reported.

The dip flavors that were most well-liked were "pizza" and "ranch," while "herb" and "garlic" ranked low on the popularity scale.

Less than 10 percent of young children consume the recommended daily amount of vegetables, Savage noted, and more than one-third of kids don't eat any veggies on a typical day.

"Just because a child refuses to taste a vegetable doesn't mean they don't like it," Savage said. "It's foreign – the key is to try to get them to taste it in a positive light."

The research is published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Source: Science Daily