Parenting
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Kids like veggies with crazy names and superhero powers
editor
Forget
trying to hide veggies in your kid's meals. Just
come up with a few zany names for carrots, broccoli, Brussels
sprouts and any other vegetables in your menu. Implied superhero
powers can also help.
Data presented today at the annual meeting of the
School Nutrition
Association in Washington, DC, indicates
that kids are more likely to eat their vegetables if we give them
cool names.
As part of the study, funded by
the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, researchers gave 186 preschoolers
carrots to eat at lunch. On some days, the researchers would call
the carrots "X-ray Vision Carrots." And guess what? The
carrots with the implied superhero powers were eaten twice as much
as the plain, boring "carrots."
Even though this is a small sample size with only preschool-aged
kids, I believe it based on personal experience. Now, there are
those kids who absolutely refuse to eat their veggies even if their
salad is Super Strong Muscle Mix. However, I have seen plenty of
preschoolers and even older kids who absolutely devour any type of
food if it's given a creative, kooky name.
And it seems works with
adults, too. Think about how many recipe or menu items you've been willing to try because of it
"sounded" good?
Healthy Living Editor Jessica Ashley just told me how
she tried a recipe called "Baby Cabbages" and it was
delicious...only it was a tricked-out form of Brussels sprouts. And
now she's addicted.
For these kids who still refuse to eat their veggies, Mom and Dad
may still need to
other ideas to help out.
Shine parents: What are some of the creative names you've named
veggies or other food items to entice your kids to try them
out?
Also, test out the crazy-veggie name theory with the little ones
and report back!
Related: veggies, vegetables, mealtime, getting kids to eat veggetables, dinner, childrens eating habits
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Posted by HotCrossBuns Mon Mar 2, 2009 1:15pm PST
Luckily my kids have always like fruits and veggies, (ok, not so much Kid3) so I've never come up with names for the veggies or fruits. But I am guilty of telling the kids that some foods will give them certain uncanny abilities. Like Carrots will give you Xray vision. Salad will turn you into a giant. Broccoli will give you curly hair (although with my son I told him it would put hair on his chest, like dad's). My husband recently got a little upset with me when I jokingly whispered to my 10 year old daughter (who has just started to "bud") that radishes will make her boobies grow. But hey...she finished every last one on her salad!
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Posted by AUDREY Mon Mar 2, 2009 1:17pm PST
We didn't have super hero names, but we were pretty creative if not a little gross. Olives were bugs, okra was chicken poop,(now at 23, 21 and 19 years old my kids still call it that!!) chicken sandwich.........rat sandwich and vegetable soup was garbage soup. My kids thought it was soooo funny to ask for these things in front of other people. It wasn't unusual to hear them ask for bugs on they're pizza. It was always fun!!!
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Posted by DEMON Mon Mar 2, 2009 7:52pm PST
I am not to much of a veggie eater, I KNOW, I KNOW..LOL My son does like veggies, and the one that he does not so much, I tell him that that is what the Incredible Hulk, and the Ninga Turtle eat to b strong and big. He goes for it, at least for now he does.
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Posted by THE Queen Tue Mar 3, 2009 10:44am PST
i'm glad that i don't have to give food any different or special names for my son to eat. he just turned 5 and my son always has been good with eating fruits and veggies. when i cook dinner, i always let him choose what veggie he wants me to cook with the meal...he likes that!
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Posted by bookluva Tue Mar 3, 2009 5:04pm PST
little trees for brocoli, orange lily pads for carrots sliced horizontally, balls for grapes, olives ect. But only one child in the family has trouble with veggies, the other four love them.
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Posted by J B Thu Mar 5, 2009 5:01am PST
Ha! When my brother and I were kids, Popeye was on TV a lot, and Mom used him to remind us to eat our spinach. We also got "little trees" broccoli--she propped them up on the plate and sprinkled Molly McButter on them to look like a snowy forest in the winter time.
Aww, thanks Shine for making me have a warm fuzzy memory this morning :)
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Posted by NickJonasLvr Thu Mar 5, 2009 3:25pm PST
Me and my brother are in love w/ vegetables and fruit and have been since we were babies!
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Posted by Leah Thu Mar 5, 2009 3:29pm PST
my mother called green beans magic strings lol !!! and if we didnt finish our food she would feel our bellys for empty spots and the say oops take another bite and fill that empty spot !!!
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Posted by Dustin T Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:01pm PDT
Hey Guyz..well i love all of your guys idea's...i just recently found out i was going to be a dad...so im trying to study up much as i can on being a parent...if anybody has any other suggestions...just msg me at cant_find42@yahoo.com thank you all and yall take care...
s,s
Dustin Todd
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Posted by Dustin T Thu Mar 12, 2009 10:01pm PDT
Hey Guyz..well i love all of your guys idea's...i just recently found out i was going to be a dad...so im trying to study up much as i can on being a parent...if anybody has any other suggestions...just msg me at cant_find42@yahoo.com thank you all and yall take care...
s,s
Dustin Todd
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