Getting kids to eat right may be just a matter of time

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Convincing kids to eat what’s good for them can be tough, as parents know. But the task isn’t impossible.

Witness the results from a recent study in which children were given whole grains in gradually increasing amounts in breads. They liked the stuff and ate it — up to a point.

Two Midwestern elementary schools were chosen for the experiment, in which about 600 children in kindergarten through 6th grade were, over the course of the school year, given buns and rolls twice a week made from whole red or whole white wheat flour. The amount of flour increased incrementally, from 0% to 91%, and consumption was assessed by how much the children threw away. Average bun and roll consumption at the start of the study was about 75%, and that stayed fairly steady as the amount of whole grains rose.

Roll consumption topped off when the amount of red whole wheat flour in the bread reached about 59%, and at about 45% for the white whole wheat flour, then decreased as more of those flours were added. Bun consumption was not as steady, but researchers believe results may have differed according to their fillings; rolls were usually consumed plain. Results of the study, done by researchers at the University of Minnesota, will be published in the fall issue of the Journal of Child Nutrition & Management.

So it is possible to get children to eat healthful foods, but the key may lie in gradually increasing the amounts — and knowing there may be limits.

-- Jeannine Stein