Experiential Learning to Establish Children’s Preferences for Vegetables at Mealtimes

Consuming vegetables as part of a healthy and varied diet has positive effects for the individual (e.g. protection against non-communicable diseases) and environment (e.g. sustainability of food systems). Yet, children from many countries regularly fail to meet recommended intakes of vegetables per-day. This thesis utilised a variety of methods and theoretical perspectives to better understand and encourage vegetable intake by children (2-6 years). Following a narrative review of the literature highlighting the importance of ecological validity in research, secondary data analyses examined how vegetables are commonly eaten by children in the UK. This found that vegetables are eaten at evening mealtimes at home with family, but portion sizes were small. An online study then examined children’s food choices within meals and found that vegetables were selected more frequently when they added variety to a meal and were better liked than competitor foods. Therefore, competitor foods may be of importance when designing interventions to increase vegetable intake at mealtimes. Parents were subsequently surveyed to obtain views and beliefs for implementing different vegetable feeding strategies at home. Although parents reported high intentions to use such strategies, many parents did not believe that they would work for their child. Lastly, vegetables-served-first and experiential learning strategies were tested in schools. Children ate more vegetables when served before meals, yet there were large differences between schools. Overall, findings suggest that vegetable intake by children can be increased by ~10g if they are served in isolation at mealtimes, without competitor foods. However, this may be dependent on the individual child’s experience of the eating occasion, including impacts from stakeholders (parents, schools), environmental and contextual factors. Findings have implications for the implementation of vegetable feeding strategies at home and at school, as well as for policy that could enhance the impact of such strategies at school lunchtimes.