Serving a variety of vegetables and fruit as a snack increased intake in preschool children

Abstract

Background: Although serving a greater variety of food increases intake, this effect has not been well studied as a strategy to encourage consumption of vegetables and fruit in preschool children.

Objective: This study examined whether providing a variety of familiar vegetables or fruit to preschool children as a snack would lead to increased selection and intake.

Design: In a crossover design, 61 children (aged 3-5 y) ate a snack in their childcare facility on 8 afternoons. At 4 snack times, the children were offered vegetables: either a single type (cucumber, sweet pepper, or tomato) or a variety of all 3 types. At 4 other snack times, the children were offered fruit (apple, peach, pineapple, or all 3 types). Uniform-sized pieces were served family style, and children selected and ate as much as they desired.

Results: Offering a variety of vegetables or fruit increased the likelihood of selection (P < 0.0001); children chose some pieces in 94% of snacks with variety and in 70% of snacks without variety. Serving a variety also increased consumption of both vegetables and fruit (P < 0.0002); the mean (±SEM) increase was 31 ± 5 g, about one-sixth the recommended daily amount. Independent of the variety effect, children were less likely to select vegetables than fruit (P < 0.0001), and the mean intake was substantially less for vegetables than for fruit (22 ± 1 compared with 84 ± 3 g).

Conclusions: Providing a variety of vegetables and fruit as a snack led to increased consumption of both food types in a childcare facility. Serving a variety of vegetables or fruit as a snack could help preschool children meet recommended intakes. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01557218.

FIGURE 1.

Number of preschool children who selected (▪) or did not select (□) some pieces of vegetables or fruit at snack time. On different occasions, the children were offered 3 single types of vegetables and a variety of all 3 types; similar offerings of fruit were made. Children were more likely to choose some pieces when a variety of types was offered than when a single type was offered (P < 0.0001, repeated-measures logistic regression). Because of occasional absences, the number of children at a given snack time was less than the total of 61 children in the study. Veg., vegetable.

FIGURE 2.

Mean (±SEM) number of pieces of vegetables and fruit consumed by 61 preschool children at a snack. On different occasions, the children were offered 3 single types of vegetables and a variety of all 3 types; similar offerings of fruit were made. Children ate a greater number of pieces when a variety of types was offered than when a single type was offered (P = 0.0002, nonlinear mixed model). Children also ate a greater number of pieces of fruit than of vegetables (P < 0.0001). The pieces were of uniform size and had a mean weight of 10 g and an allowable range of 8 to 12 g. Veg., vegetable.