July 2014 Question #2
This study aimed to increase fruit, vegetable, and low-fat
or fat-free dairy consumption. If you were to design a nutrition-education
program for preschoolers, what areas of their diet would you focus on?
posted by Susan @ 1:52 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
I would focus on having the preschoolers try new fruits and vegetables to expand their food knowledge, make healthy fun snacks in a creative way, and teach them about myplate by drawing it and having food props. At this age I would do my best to make learning fun so that I wouldn't lose their attention. Coloring myplate and have food taste testing would keep them interested in the activities. I think it is so important to teach them at an early age about fruits, vegetables, and dairy because not all children learn about healthy eating at home. Parents are busy working and may not have the time to have family meals. Learning nutrition skills at school or in other programs is beneficial for children.
I think I would also add in trying to incorporate whole grains. A majority of children diets, from what I've observed, involve grains. If we can get them to pick whole grains as a part of their diet, it could definitely help. I would also focus on drinking more water instead of juices, since that is also another thing parents tend to give their children a lot of. Even at a young age, I would start getting them involved in the kitchen and garden. Children are more likely to try foods if they're able to be more hands on.
I agree with Haley that learning for kids should be fun to keep their attention. The more visuals, the better when it comes to children. If they can use all their senses then the experience will be that much better for them.
I would definitely focus on healthy beverages with preschoolers, and I would encourage drinking plenty of water and also low-fat milk. So many children drink large amounts of juice daily, which often supplies much more sugar than they should be getting. I would also focus on healthy snacks that contain fruits and vegetables, because children may eat junk food like chips, cookies, or candy for snacks. Making healthy food fun by creating shapes or animals would encourage preschoolers to actually eat those healthy foods. I would also link fruits and vegetables to “eating the rainbow,” since preschoolers are probably learning about colors at that age. I would name a color and then ask the preschoolers to name as many fruits and vegetables that they can think of that are that color. Also getting preschoolers to try new foods is important, because this is the age where they may start to refuse foods. Exposing children to new fruits and vegetables while they are young may make the child more likely to eat them.
It’s interesting to me to see how much milk is pushed for young children, both from this article and my experience at WIC. I understand it’s a great source of calcium and it’s fortified with important vitamins and minerals, but I’ve never been a huge fan of milk myself. If I were designing a nutrition-education program, I would focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, and like Tina mentioned, whole grains. Ideally I would try to introduce fruits and vegetables in new ways and teach them where they come from. My goal would be to get the kids to enjoy eating fruits and vegetables using fun and tasty recipes so they don’t associate veggies with the disgusting pile of “green mush” on their plate that they have to get through before they can have dessert.
I think as Caroline mentioned, addressing healthy beverages would be important as well. Some parents may allow their child to have unlimited amounts of juice because they think it’s from fruit so it must be healthy, and it can add up to an excessive amount of unnecessary sugar and calories for the child.
I would really emphasize the entire MyPlate Model with whole grains, lean protein, dairy, fruits and vegetables with a very special emphasis on "coloring your plate!" with fruits and vegetables. I think Sammy brought up a great point when she said that we don't want children to associate vegetables with "green mush." To make this a reality, focusing on just how colorful fruits and vegetables can make your plate would be a great place to start. For instance, I would share tips like spicing up vegetable plates with orange, yellow and red bell peppers along with the traditional broccoli and celery stalwarts, and also how vegetables can make fantastic snacks at all times during the day. There are also tons of vegetables that many childen probably haven't experienced like, perhaps, yellow squash. I made a yellow squash/mushroom/asparagus stir fry the other night and it was fantastic. Maybe having a taste testing of various combinations like that would be a good idea. I would also really push fruit and/or dairy for dessert, as I know that most children really like the idea of being "rewarded" with dessert. For some children, the idea of having dessert may be more important than what dessert actually consists of, even further, if a child never has ice cream for dessert and instead is raised having foods like frozen dark chocolate covered bananas after dinner, they probably won't crave or insist on having something they've never had to begin with. Having something like a fruit and yogurt parfait after a meal is much more nutritionally satisfying than a DQ blizzard or other sugar laden ice cream treat, so that would be something to talk about as well.
Even though I really don't eat grains, because of personal preferences, I would definitely strive to emphasize the importance of whole grain consumption as these foods are great sources of needed energy as well as essential vitamins and minerals and fiber. It could be opined that carbohydrates aren't the problem, but rather, it's the type of carbohydrates that are the problem. When kids are consuming fast digesting sugars as opposed to nutritionally dense sources of carbohydrates, that's a problem that needs to be corrected by us as professionals.
Great suggestions, everyone! I think it can be difficult to decide exactly what you want your nutrition intervention to be when you're working with a population such as preschoolers. You don't want to overload them with too much information, and yet you want to make the most improvements to their diet as possible. Tackling a few areas instead of their entire diet may be a way to make some positive effects on these children.
I really like Tina's point about also discussing involvement in both the kitchen and in a garden. Enhancing cooking and gardening skills at a young age promotes a lifetime of healthy eating! Allowing children to be hands on is a great way to go about doing things. I think this is especially important for younger males...they may only see their mom in the kitchen, or their mom gardening, so they may have a sense that it's not their job to do such things (percieved gender roles do still exist...), so getting young male children involved may be a great way to throw that stereotype out the window!
My first priority would be fruits and vegetables. I would try to teach them that fruits and vegetables are an important part of every meal and that they can taste good, too. The first step might be just identifying specific fruits and vegetables. I think the biggest barrier for most kids is not liking the taste, so finding foods that incorporate fruit and/or vegetables that they can enjoy is an important first step. One way to do this is by offering a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, served different ways. Once they find a fruit or vegetable served a specific way that they like, I would share those recipes with parents and encourage the children to ask for the healthy foods they have learned to like at home.
Trying fruits and vegetables, without a doubt. Specifically, I would want to focus on the concept of trying new foods and making kids feel comfortable exploring new flavors and textures. It’s not always easy for kids to try new things, so I think a class focused on that would be great. It would be fun to do activities with them to help introduce them to new veggies or fruits, showing them how to smell, taste, and touch new foods. It would ideally be a repeated class because you can only introduce so many new things to them in one session. I would hope that regular education on something like this would break down a few of those barriers that lead to picky eating down the road.
I like Brady's idea about a recurring class so that you could focus on a small number of vegetables or fruits at a time. Maybe you could pick 2 or 3 that might be mixed together in some dishes, and present a variety of dishes using different combinations of the 2 or 3 and each one individually. You never know what might appeal to kids. My very picky son tried roasted vegetables (carrots, radishes and brussel sprouts) that someone brought to a 4th of July party, and decided he likes roasted brussel sprouts. I never would have guessed that might appeal to him, since he would not even try roasted sweet potatoes at home.
I would say my biggest iniative would be introduction of fruits and vegetables made in a variety of ways in a variety of dishes. These kids have to be introduced to produce several times before they really take a liking to it. How can we expect them to make fruits and vegies 1/2 of their diet when we only give them carrot stick and celery. All elements of the diet are important but I agree with Haley this is #1 on the list.
Definitely agree with Jessica that kids need to be introduced to vegetables multiple times in different preparations. Sometimes it takes a little bit of work to make veggies appealing to young people, but it will work eventually. Also like Caroline's idea about focusing on healthy beverages. People need to drink more water, and getting them used to that from a young age is a good strategy.
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