Getting children to eat their vegetables can be challenging. Research shows that children do not consume the recommended amounts of vegetables due to tastes and textures. One strategy is to repeatedly expose children to vegetables to help them develop a liking. A recent study found that covertly adding pureed vegetables to commonly eaten foods like pasta sauce and bread increased vegetable intake without reducing the amount of entree consumed. The study suggests that hiding vegetables in well-liked recipes can help get more vegetables into children's diets.

1. Getting Children to Eat Their Vegetables
By Barb Bonham Dietetic Intern
Parents often struggle to get their kids to eat a wide variety of vegetables. Research is consistent
in finding that children do not get the recommended amounts of vegetables they should.¹ One of
the key reasons may be related to the texture and the taste of many vegetables. ³ Many strategies
have been tried by parents to get their children to eat more vegetables. One approach is to serve
larger quantities of vegetables. This is only effective if the child likes that particular vegetable
such as baby carrots or tomato soup and does not increase the consumption of the vegetables if a
child does not like it. ² Repeated exposure to a vegetable may turn a dislike into a child liking a
certain vegetable. Children should be offered different forms of the same vegetable and as many
types of vegetables as possible.³
A recent study explored the covert approach to adding vegetables into children’s diets. Pureed
vegetables were included in the recipes of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals to reduce the
energy density (calories) of the foods and to determine if the intake of vegetables would increase.
The vegetable puree was made from zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, (vegetables commonly
disliked by children), and tomatoes. Recipes included zucchini bread for breakfast, pasta with
sauce for lunch, and chicken and noodle casserole for dinner. Side dishes and milk were offered
to complete the meal. Children consumed equal amounts of the entrée independent of how much
vegetable puree was in the entrée. Researchers found that as the vegetable content of the recipe
increased the vegetable intake increased. The entrées with the highest amount of pureed
vegetables were less energy dense leading to fewer calories of the entrée.³
The covert approach to hiding vegetables in well liked recipes may be an easy way for parents
and schools to incorporate more vegetables into the daily diets of children. Including vegetable
side dishes is still important as well as introducing and reintroducing new vegetables.
Of course children will mimic their parents so it is important to set the example and eat your
vegetables too.
References
1. Krebs-Smith SM, C. A. (1996). Fruit and vegetable intakes of children and adolescents in the United
States. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 150:81–6.
2. Spill MK, B. L. (2010). Eating vegetables first: the use of portion size to increase vegetable intake in
preschool children . Am J Clin Nutr, 91:1237–43.
3. Maureen K Spill, L. L. (2011 September). Hiding vegetables to reduce energy density: an effective
strategy to increase children's vegetable intake and reduce energy intake. Am J Clin Nutr, 94(3):
735–741.