Children’s Preferences And Consumption Of Fruit And Vegetables: The Role Of Parental Strategies
G.G. Zeinstra1, C. de Graaf1, M.A. Koelen2
1) Wageningen University, Division of Human Nutrition, The Netherlands
2) Wageningen University, Division of Communication Science, The Netherlands
Introduction:
Parents have an important influence on children’s fruit and vegetable consumption. They are responsible for the eating environment at home and they act as role models. Furthermore, parents can consciously apply certain rules and strategies to affect the eating behaviour of their children. It is not known what the intensity and frequency is, by which parents apply these strategies. Besides, the effects of these strategies on children’s fruit and vegetable intake and preference are not clear. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of parental strategies on children’s preference and intake of fruit and vegetables.
Methods:
Three age groups (children aged 4-5 years N=99; 7-8 years N=84; 11-12 years N=76) and their parents were included in the study. At school, all children filled in a preference booklet for fruit, vegetable and other products, using a 5-point-smiley scale. The 11-12-year-old children also completed a strategies questionnaire: they could indicate how often their parents used certain strategies related to fruit and vegetables. At home, parents filled in a booklet with questions about their own fruit and vegetable consumption, the consumption of their child and the strategies they apply.
Results:
The children consumed 93 grams of vegetables and 182 grams of fruit per day. Preference for fruit (4,0) was higher than for vegetables (3.0). Correlations between intake and preference were significant for fruit, but not for vegetables. Most used strategies for fruit were related to availability, health information and monitoring. Strategies related to availability, modelling, monitoring and persuasive information were used most frequently for vegetables. Preliminary analyses showed that strategies "promoting accessibility of vegetables” correlated positively with vegetable intake and preference, while strategies "containing negative signals” correlated negatively with vegetable intake and preference.
Discussion:
By measuring intake as well as preference, this study showed which parental strategies appear beneficial and which appear detrimental for children’s longterm intake of fruit and vegetables. Longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate cause and effect.