Parents Influence Childhood Produce Consumption, Study Finds

A five-year study published in the journal Preventive Medicine finds that parents who eat healthy foods can inspire their children to do so as well, the Los Angeles Times reports.  Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis divided participants—1,306 parents and children ages 2 and 5—into two groups. Both groups received four visits from parent educators, but one group was also enrolled in a program that encourages families to eat more fruits and vegetables at home. The program provides parents with nutrition materials and gives children tapes with sing-along stories and coloring books. Compared to the other group, those families receiving more encouragement and information ate significantly more fruits and vegetables. Moreover, the amount of fruit and vegetables the children ate directly correlated with the amount their parents ate, and the parents relied less on coercive feeding methods to get their children to consume produce. However, the approach appeared to increase fruit and vegetable consumption only among normal-weight preschoolers. Based on their findings, the researchers suggest that early home-based interventions are key to obesity prevention. They recommend that parents take early steps to expose children to a variety of healthy foods and note that partnering with a parent education program may be an effective means of disseminating information on healthy eating practices (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 8/8/08 [registration required]; Washington University release, 8/13/08; Haire-Joshu et al.,  Preventive Medicine, July 2008 [subscription required]).