Washington, April 19 : A new research conducted by Saint Louis University experts reveals that pre-school children in rural areas eat more fruits and vegetables if the produce is home-grown. The researchers interviewed about 1,600 parents whose children were of pre-school age in rural Southeast Missouri.

They found that pre-school children who were served home-grown fruits and vegetables most of the times were more than twice as likely to eat five servings a day as those who rarely or never ate home-grown produce.

An analysis of the parents’ answers also indicated that children who grow up eating fresh home-grown produce prefer the taste of fruits and vegetables to other foods.

“It was a simple, clear finding. Whether a food is home-grown makes a difference. Garden produce creates what we call a ‘positive food environment’,” said study author Dr. Debra Haire-Joshu, Director, Obesity Prevention Center, Saint Louis University.

The study, described in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, also shows that children who are fed on produce grown in
their garden are more likely to see their parents eating fruits and vegetables.

Haire-Joshu says families who almost always ate home-grown fruits and vegetables also showed the availability of a greater variety of produce, such as more tomatoes, cantaloupe, broccoli, beans, and carrots.

She says that the new findings point to a simple way of getting kids to eat healthier, and recommends growing a garden at home or schools.

“When children are involved with growing and cooking food, it improves their diet,” Haire-Joshu said.

“Students at schools with gardens learn about math and science and they also eat more fruits and vegetables. Kids eat healthier and they know more about eating healthy. It’s a winning and low-cost strategy to improve the nutrition of our children at a time when the pediatric obesity is an epidemic problem,” she added. (ANI)