Tips for Fruit and Vegetable Taste Tests in Early Care and Education Settings

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that preschool-aged children (ages 3-5) should consume between 1 and 2 cups of vegetables and between 1 and 1.5 cups of fruits each day (U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services., 2020). Unfortunately, many young children do not consume the recommended amount of fruits or vegetables (Banfield et al., 2016; Ramsay et al., 2014). One way you, as an early care and education provider or teacher, can help children consume more fruits and vegetables is by providing a lot of opportunities for them to try fruits and vegetables. This will help them learn to like or love eating fruits and vegetables. Several studies suggest that this is an effective way to increase preschool children’s willingness to eat fruits and vegetables (Hodder et al., 2020; Nekitsing et al., 2018; Zeinstra et al., 2018). There are also studies that suggest that it might be necessary to offer a new fruit or vegetable as many as eight times before children.