Arm Children With Nutrition Facts!
13 09 2007
As a parent you may wonder how you can help your child make wise choices in the school cafeteria. Is there any way to get them to bypass the pizza and fries and choose wholesome foods like milk, vegetables, and lean entrees instead? Yes, says a study published in the Journal of Child Nutrition and Management! The secret? Give kids nutritional information about the foods and they’ll make better choices.
To test their theory, the researchers watched what children ate for a six-week period at several school districts, including schools in urban, rural, and suburban settings. Then the researchers posted nutritional data listing the calorie count and fat content of each item served. Sure enough, once armed with the facts, children started making wiser choices — opting for cheese pizza (which has less calories and fat) over pepperoni, for example.
While the experts admitted that children might not always choose salads over burgers, any small changes to improve their diets help. Ask your school to post nutritional data in the lunchroom, or get a menu and work out the numbers yourself. You’ll help show your children how everyday choices add up to big results!
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Well that proves that children are prepared to make sensible choices if they’re given the information and the chance.