The best way to make children love vegetables

 

 

Psychologists from the University of Ghent in Belgium studied the behavior of 98 preschool children on the consumption of 10 vegetables (fennel, chicory, zucchini, mushrooms, peas, leeks, Brussels sprouts, beetroot, spinach and cauliflower flower).

 

 

 

These steamed or boiled vegetables were offered to children who were to give an evaluation ("delicious", "OK", "disgusting") and choose the amount to consume. The children were divided into 3 groups. In the first group, the children received no encouragement to consume these vegetables, in the 2nd group the children received verbal encouragement, in the 3rd the children received rewards in the form of a small toy. The test was conducted twice a week for one month.

 

 

 

For the scientists, the results are convincing: in the group that had received no encouragement or reward, 81% of the children liked the vegetables that had been proposed several times. The rate dropped to 75% in the group that received verbal encouragement and 68% in the group that received awards.