Press Release: Nestle: Children who cook eat more greens, Nestlé study reveals

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   April 17, 2014 03:57 ET (07:57 GMT)- - 03 57 AM EDT 04-17-14

-2 of 2- 17 Apr 2014 07:57:00 UTC  Press Release: Nestle: Children who cook eat more greens, Nestlé study reveals

Nestlé S.A. / Children who cook eat more greens, Nestlé study reveals . Processed and transmitted by Nasdaq OMX Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Children who help to prepare their own meals eat significantly more vegetables than those who are not involved in cooking, a Nestlé study([i] #_edn1) published in the journal http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314001573 Appetite suggests.

The research, carried out by the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, compared what children chose to eat when they helped cook their own meal with what they consumed when they did not.

"We found that children who were in the kitchen, cooking with a parent, ate more overall of their meal, and a significantly larger amount of vegetables," said nutritionist Dr Klazine van der Horst, who led the team of scientists who carried out the study.

"The results suggest that involving children in food preparation could help develop healthy eating habits and increase vegetable consumption," she added.

Making a meal of it

Forty-seven parents, accompanied by a son or daughter aged between six and 10 years of age, were asked to prepare a meal made of various elements, including breaded chicken, salad, cauliflower and pasta.

Half the children in the experiment got involved in making the meal - putting together the salad and helping their parents coat the chicken pieces - while the other children played as their mother or father prepared the meal alone.

The children who cooked alongside a parent ate almost 76% more salad and 27% more chicken as well as consuming 25% more calories overall.

Tasting pride

The study also showed that helping to prepare a meal improved how children felt about themselves, with those who cooked feeling more positive emotions and pride.

Nutritionists involved in the study said it can be beneficial for both parents and children to cook together, not only because of the effects on food intake but also because both parents and children value the time they spend together. Cooking for the family, the study revealed, made children feel independent and proud.

There was also a correlation between the total length of time spent preparing the meal and the time spent eating it, as well as the level of enjoyment expressed, suggesting that children who spend time in the kitchen will also spend longer at the table, and enjoy it more too.

The research showed that in particular the amount of salad consumed increased, perhaps, the scientists suggest, because it was easier for children to independently choose its different elements.

In the future nutritionists would like to study the long-term effects of children cooking with their parents to see how this shapes their consumption patterns and food choices.

Healthier choices

Another recent study http://blog.journals.cambridge.org/2013/11/nudge-children-to-eat-more-vegetables/ ([ii] #_edn2) carried out by Zurich's ETH University https://www.ethz.ch/en/the-eth-zurich.html and Nestlé and published in the journal http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=PHN Public Health Nutrition showed that serving school-age children a greater variety of vegetables increased the quantity they chose to consume.

The most recent study was carried out at the Nestlé Research Center (NRC), one of the company's 34 Research & Development and Product Technology Centres around the world. The NRC's 250 scientists publish some 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications each year across areas including nutrition and health, public nutrition and food consumer interaction.

Nestlé aims to help parents and children make healthier choices, running cookery schools and educational programmes around the world including in countries like Germany, Thailand, Venezuela and India.

In Germany, the Maggi Kochstudio (Cooking Centre) offers cooking classes to adults and children, teaching them how to best combine Maggi with fresh ingredients to prepare tasty and balanced meals. In 2013 alone, more than 9,400 participants attended these sessions.

Nestlé has also recently published a guide for children and their parents with helpful tips on how to grow their own organic vegetables as part of its global Healthy Kids Programme http://www.nestle.com/nhw/kids-best-start/children-family/healthy-kids-programme .

Related stories:

Nestlé scientists collaborate to identify biomarkers for obesity-related health problems

http://www.research.nestle.com/newscenter/news/nestl%c3%a9-scientists-collaborate-to-identify-biomarkers-for-obesity-related-health-problems

Nestlé encourages teenagers in Poland to cook for themselves

http://www.nestle.com/media/newsandfeatures/winiary-cooking-programme

Nestlé drives nutrition with 'Cooking Caravans' in Africa

http://www.nestle.com/media/newsandfeatures/maggi_cooking_caravans_africa

Related links:

Factsheet: The Nestlé Research Center

http://www.research.nestle.com/resources/downloads/Documents/NRC%20Factsheet.pdf

Nestlé Research Center: Nutrition Research

http://www.research.nestle.com/researchandinnovation/valuechain/nutritionresearch

Cooking tips and recipes for children

http://www.nestle.com/nhw/health-wellness-tips/cooking-recipes-kids

Nestlé's nutrition basics

http://www.nestle.com/nhw/nutrition-basics

The Maggi brand

http://www.nestle.com/brands/allbrands/maggi_culinary

Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme

http://www.nestle.com/nhw/kids-best-start/children-family/healthy-kids-programme

Media enquiries

Nestlé Corporate Media Relations

Tel: +41 21 924 2200

Email: mediarelations@nestle.com

[i] #_ednref1 Appetite April 2014 Involving children in meal preparation: Effects on food intake. Klazine van der Horst, Aurore Ferrage, Andreas Rytz

[ii] #_ednref2 Public Health Nutrition July 2013: Vegetable variety: An effective strategy to increase vegetable choice in children. Tamara Bucher, Michael Siegrist and Klazine van der Horst

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Source: Nestlé S.A. via Globenewswire

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   April 17, 2014 03:57 ET (07:57 GMT)- - 03 57 AM EDT 04-17-14