Vegetable consumption among Scottish children: a review of the determinants and proposed strategies to overcome low consumption

Abstract

Discusses the factors shaping Scottish children’s perceptions of vegetables as a means of explaining their low vegetable consumption. Examines the impact that sensory factors, the child’s family and eating experiences, and environmental factors (i.e. socio‐economic factors/income, culture, eating patterns and advertising) have on children’s vegetable consumption. Additionally, makes suggestions for strategies to overcome some of these factors which affect children’s low consumption of vegetables.

The influence of preparation method on children’s liking for vegetables

“…The deep-fried carrots and deep-fried beans in our study scored low on crunchiness and hardness, and high on well-done. Although stir-frying has been suggested as an appealing and crunchy preparation for children's vegetables (Baxter & Schröder, 1997), stir-fried vegetables in our study were not crunchier than steamed and boiled. Perhaps shorter boiling times, which are common nowadays, have resulted in the vegetables retaining their crunch.…”

“…Other authors have confirmed that appearance plays an important role in children's expectations about vegetable acceptance (Baxter & Schröder, 1997;Szczesniak, 2002). Various children, especially the young ones, mentioned during tasting that they did not like the brown colouring that was present on some of the vegetable preparations.…”

“…One of the most important reasons for this low consumption is children's low preference for vegetables Nicklaus, Boggio, Chabanet, & Issanchou, 2004). This low preference has been attributed to our innate aversion to bitter tastes (Baxter & Schröder, 1997;Steiner, 1979), and probably also relates to the low energy content of vegetables. Humans are predisposed to learn to like high-energy foods through flavour-nutrient learning (Birch, McPhee, Steinberg, & Sullivan, 1990;Kern, McPhee, Fisher, Johnson, & Birch, 1993), but this is less likely to occur with plain vegetables.…”

Sociodemographic inequalities in the diet of young children in the 1946 British birth cohort

“…This winter vegetable was not encountered in the present study, which was carried out predominantly during the summer. It would appear that the situation in 1950 was not necessarily due just to problems of distribution and short supply since the low consumption of fruits and vegetables is of continuing concern in Scotland, both with regard to children 28 and adults 29 . As such, both economics and characteristics of the national diet are likely to have been important.…”

Intake and sources of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) in 4-year-old British children: comparison between 1950 and the 1990s

“…In terms of bone health, children in Scotland would be doubly disadvantaged because vitamin D synthesis in the skin from sunlight is much reduced in northern latitudes 34 . The low levels of vegetable consumption by children in Scotland are still of concern 35 . Evidence from adults who participated in the Scottish Heart Health Study 36 suggested that classical risk factors could not completely explain the Scottish situation with regard to cardiovascular disease, and that factors such as inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables may possibly play a role.…”