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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Children Eat More Fruits And Vegetables If They Are Homegrown
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:15:52 -0600


Children Eat More Fruits And Vegetables If They Are Homegrown
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070418163652.htm

ScienceDaily (Apr. 19, 2007) — If you are looking for a way to encourage
your children eat their fruits and vegetables, search no further than your
backyard, suggests new Saint Louis University research.

Preschool children in rural areas eat more fruits and vegetables when the
produce is homegrown.

"It was a simple, clear finding," said Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., director of
Saint Louis University's Obesity Prevention Center and a study author.
"Whether a food is homegrown makes a difference. Garden produce creates what
we call a 'positive food environment.'"

Researchers interviewed about 1,600 parents of preschool-aged children who
live in rural southeast Missouri. They found that preschool children who were
almost always served homegrown fruits and vegetables were more than twice as
likely to eat five servings a day than those who rarely or never ate
homegrown produce.

The American Dietetic Association recommends between five and 13 servings of
fruits and vegetables a day.

In addition, children who grow up eating fresh-from-the-garden produce also
prefer the taste of fruits and vegetables to other foods, the parents told
researchers.

The study, in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic
Association, found the garden-fed children were more likely to see their
parents eating fruits and vegetables.

A greater variety of fruits and vegetables -- more tomatoes, cantaloupe,
broccoli, beans and carrots -- also were available in the homes of families
who nearly always had homegrown produce.

The implications of the research are important because they point to a simple
way of getting kids to eat healthier, Haire-Joshu said. Plant a garden or
encourage your school to do so.

"When children are involved with growing and cooking food, it improves their
diet," Haire-Joshu said. "Students at schools with gardens learn about math
and science and they also eat more fruits and vegetables. Kids eat healthier
and they know more about eating healthy. It's a winning and low-cost strategy
to improve the nutrition of our children at a time when the pediatric obesity
is an epidemic problem."






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