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 Researchers conducted the experiment at a preschool in Colorado. At
lunchtime on three days in one week, they gave 325 children plates
with compartments that had pictures of fruits and veggies, and they
observed how much kids put on their plates and ate. Then they
compared those days to three days in a previous week when kids ate
with their usual plain white plates.
On average, kids served themselves about 44 grams of vegetables each
day with the experimental plates, compared with about 30 grams with
regular plates, the study found. They also ate more veggies: an
average of 28 grams a day with the experimental plates compared with
21 grams before.
With fruits, kids served themselves an average of about 64 grams a
day with experimental plates, up from roughly 60 grams before. And,
kids ate an average of 55 grams of fruit with the experimental
plates, compared with 51 grams before.
"Pictures on lunch plates may indicate a social norm of vegetable
and fruit consumption to nudge children's dietary behaviors in a
classroom setting," said study co-author Emily Melnick, of the
University of Colorado Denver.
"So, these pictures suggest that other children take fruits and
vegetables from classroom serving bowls and place them in those
compartments and that they should do the same," Melnick said by
email.
The kids in the study, like children in many preschool classrooms,
ate family style meals because this type of dining can encourage
kids to regulate their own food intake, feel in control of their
food choices, recognize their hunger levels, and learn about food,
Melnick said.
Before the experiment, researchers weighed exactly how much fruit
and vegetables children served themselves on plain white plates
during three school days over the course of one week.
For the experiment week, researchers gave children a five-minute
presentation explaining the new plates with pictures showing
sections for fruits and vegetables at the start of the week. Then
children were given the same meals they had before the experiment,
and researchers again weighed how much children served themselves
and how much they ate.
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While the kids increased both the amount of fruit and vegetables
they added to their plates and ate, the difference in fruit
consumption was too small to rule out the possibility that it was
due to chance.
It's possible this is because kids were eating so much more fruit
than vegetables to begin with, researchers note in JAMA Pediatrics.
At the start of the study, children took about 89 percent of fruits
available, compared with about 65 percent of available vegetables.
It's also unclear if this classroom experiment could be replicated
with family meals at home or lead to lasting, long-term changes in
children's eating habits, said Vandana Sheth, a spokesperson for the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a dietician and nutritionist
in private practice in Los Angeles.
"If this is repeatable at home, it can be a simple technique
practiced by families and have a significant impact on their
long-term health," Sheth, who wasn't involved the study, said by
email.
"We know that early childhood dietary behaviors can affect their
food choices and eating decisions into adulthood and have a
long-term effect," Sheth added. "If something as simple as putting
pictures on plates to encourage food choice and amount can work,
it's worth a try."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2OOpI9l JAMA Pediatrics, online August 6,
2018.
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