People with high levels of nutritional knowledge are 23 times more likely to consume the recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis.¹ These are the results of a 2000 study that investigated the relationship between nutritional knowledge and the intake of fat, fruit, and vegetables. Respondents in the highest quintile for knowledge were almost 25 times more likely to meet current recommendations for fruit, vegetable, and fat intake than those in the lowest quintile.¹

IFM educator Terry Wahls, MD, emphasizes the importance of the parental role in getting kids involved in meal preparation and establishing healthy eating habits:

Much of this education can be done at the school level, she says, through home economics classes or school gardens like the Edible Schoolyard and Learning Lab at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, CA, a leading model of edible education. Dr. Wahls encourages clinicians to become involved in school and community food policy at the local level.

Studies have shown that bioagricultural experiences are positively associated with high school students’ fruit and vegetable perceptions and consumption.² Students in the study with prior farm experience and/or a home garden were shown to have more favorable scores on local produce perceptions and a willingness to try new fruits, and they consumed adequate amounts of vegetables more often.²

What’s more, establishing good mealtime practices in adolescence carries forward into parenthood.³ A 2017 study testing the association between parents’ food and mealtime practices found that healthy and unhealthy home food availability, expectations to be home for dinner, and eating in front of the television in adolescence predicted similar outcomes 15 years later among female parents.³

“A big question that I am asked by parents is, ‘How do I get my family on board?’” says Dr. Wahls.

“They need to be doing chores because chores will give them the skills they need to succeed in life. Get the children helping to make meals… If we can get kids involved in helping prepare, we can begin the discussion about meal planning and cooking lessons. This is an immense investment in the health of our children.”

References

1. Wardle J, Parmenter K, Waller J. Nutrition knowledge and food intake. Appetite. 2000;34(3):269-275. doi:1006/appe.1999.0311.
2. Greer AE, Davis S, Sandolo C, Gaudet N, Castrogivanni B. Agricultural experiences are positively associated with high school students’ fruit and vegetable perceptions and consumption [published online October 4, 2017]. J Nutr Educ Behav. doi:1016/j.jneb.2017.08.009.
3. Watts A, Berge JM, Loth K, Larson N, Neumark-Sztainer D. The transmission of family food and mealtime practices from adolescence to adulthood: longitudinal findings from Project EAT-IV [published online October 17, 2017]. J Nutr Educ Behav. doi:1016/j.jneb.2017.08.010.

< Back to News & Insights