"We have shown that you can use portion size strategically to encourage children and adults to eat more of the foods that are high in nutrients but low in calories," said Barbara J. Rolls, Helen A. Guthrie Chair of Nutritional Sciences.

Rolls and her Penn State colleagues study how varying the portions of fruit and vegetable side dishes can be used to raise vegetable consumption in children and adults.
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"We gave the children carrots first without other competing foods," explained Rolls. "When they are hungry at the start of the meal, it presents us with an opportunity to get them to eat more vegetables."

According to Maureen Spill, graduate student in nutrition and study co-author, the findings challenge the conventional belief that children won't eat vegetables. It also provides parents a simple strategy to get their children eating a more healthy and nutritious diet, she added.

"The great thing about this study is the very clear and easy message for parents and care-givers that while you are preparing dinner, put some vegetables out for your children to snack on while they're hungry," said Spill. "Parents also need to set an example by eating vegetables while children are young and impressionable."

Other researchers in the two studies include Leann L. Birch, Distinguished Professor of human development; Liane S. Roe, research nutritionist, and Jennifer S. Meengs, lab manager, all at Penn State

The National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported this work.