Children: They eat more vegetables if they prepare them together with their parents

A recent study confirms that children who cook with their parents eat more vegetables. A little trick also to make them sit at the table longer and make them more proud and self-confident

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Il relationship between children and vegetables is not always happy, many children do not like this kind of food also because it is often the first parents who do not use it much. However, we know how important it is for our well-being to consume fresh and seasonal vegetables every day. Here then is a small trick that can come to your aid: that of involve the children themselves in the preparation of vegetables.

To confirm this theory, already successfully tested by many mothers and fathers, comes a research recently published in the Journal Appetite. According to the study conducted on 47 children aged 6 to 10, when children are actively engaged with their parents in preparing meals, they are more enticed to eat vegetables and actually consume a greater quantity of it (in particular salad + 76%).

As stated Klazine Van Der Horst, coordinator of the study: “we found that the children who were in the kitchen, cooking with their parents, ate a lot more, and above all a lot more vegetables. Involving them in the preparation of the dishes could therefore help the development of healthy eating habits “.

The beneficial effects of cooking with parents can be seen when sitting down at the table. Indeed, it appears that i children helping in the kitchen having fun they also spend more time sitting down to eat and “demonstrate a more positive approach to the table”. But it does not end there, the researchers have in fact highlighted how children who cook claim to feel too more independent and proud of themselves. The advantages would therefore also be on a psychological and emotional level. Not to mention that when they grow up, knowing how to cook, they will be able to better manage their “home” routine independently.

The researchers intend now deepen the study by evaluating more long-term how this habit taken as a child can lead to change then as adults choice of foods and consumption.

Read also:

- 8 little tips to make children appreciate vegetables

- Vegetables: to make children love them, just accompany them with a sauce

- 9 vegetarian recipes to make children eat vegetables with taste