title: Influence of choice on vegetable intake in children: an in-home study.
abstract: Children's vegetable consumption is still far below that recommended, and stimulating their intake is a challenge for caregivers. The objective of this study was to investigate whether choice-offering is an effective strategy to increase children's vegetable intake in an in-home situation. Seventy children (mean age 3.7; SD 1) randomly assigned to a choice or a no-choice condition, were exposed 12 times to six familiar target vegetables at home during dinner. In the choice group, two selected vegetables were offered each time, whereas the no-choice group only received one vegetable. Vegetable intake was measured by weighing children's plates before and after dinner. A mixed linear model with age, gender, and baseline vegetable liking as covariates was used to compare intake between the choice and the no-choice group. Mixed linear model analysis yielded estimated means for vegetable intake of 48.5 g +/- 30 in the no-choice group and 57.7 g +/- 31 for the choice group (P = 0.09). In addition, baseline vegetable liking (P <0.001) and age (P = 0.06) predicted vegetable intake to be higher when the child liked vegetables better and with older age. These findings suggest that choice-offering has some, but hardly robust, effect on increasing vegetable intake in children. Other factors such as age and liking of vegetables also mediate the effect of offering a choice.
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Victoire.dewild@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Victoire W T
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: de Wild
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cees
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Department of Statistics and Mathematical Modelling, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hendriek C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Boshuizen
authors.affiliation: Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerry
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jager
mesh_terms: D002652:Child Behavior; D002657:Child Development; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects; D005190:Family; D005248:Feeding Methods; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D009426:Netherlands; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D010349:Patient Compliance; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: Choice as strategy; Family dinner; Healthy diet; Vegetable consumption; Young children