A Brock University master student is trying to crack the code parents have been struggling with for centuries:
How do you get your kid to eat broccoli?
Master’s student Laura Tardi and her supervisor, Associate Professor of Applied Disability Studies Kimberley Zonneveld, are comparing the effectiveness of two versions of a non-intrusive mealtime strategy designed to get children and youth who are picky eaters to expand their food range.
The team is seeking research participants to help.
"We’re currently looking for picky eaters between the ages of two and 17 years old who do eat a wide variety of foods, but their parents are hoping to get them to eat a couple of more foods,” says Tardi in a news release from Brock University.
Typically, these ‘more foods’ tend to be fruits and vegetables, she continued.
The study will use a procedure where children are being presented with three bites of their favourite foods, followed by one bite of a type of food they usually do not eat - like broccoli.
“Prior research has found different versions of this procedure to effectively increase the range of food children will eat,” says Zonneveld. “However, what remains unknown is which version of this procedure works best — and quickest. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
In the other condition, children will be presented with an empty spoon three times followed by a spoonful of the target food. In both cases, the children will receive verbal praise after completing each step.
Parents will fill out surveys beforehand to identify their children’s favourite and least favourite foods and the foods that parents want their children to eat.
“If they’re eating three bites of a preferred food, are they more likely to eat the target food?” says Tardi.
“Does that contrast significantly with three bites of an empty spoon followed by the target food?”
“There are a lot of problems associated with picky eating,” says Tardi.
“Vitamin and other nutritional deficiencies could result in stunted growth, among other problems.”
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, parents identify 25 to 35 per cent of toddlers and preschoolers as being picky eaters. That number doubles in children with autism. A 2019 study found that picky eating and other unusual eating behaviours were present in 70 per cent of children with autism.
To enroll in the study, parents should contact Tardi at [email protected] or Zonneveld at [email protected]
