According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Mannheim and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, children will eat more fruits and vegetables if families take more time to eat meals.
The study showed that children ate significantly more fruits and vegetables when they stayed at the table for an extra 10 minutes, bringing the total meal duration to 30 minutes.
On average, the children consumed about 100 grams more fruits and vegetables, which equals one of the five recommended daily portions of fruits and vegetables.
This finding has practical implications for health because consuming one additional daily portion of fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of cardiometabolic disease by 6 to 7 percent. Therefore, it’s important to have enough fruits and vegetables on the table – bite-sized pieces work best, according to Jutta Mata, a professor of health psychology at the University of Mannheim who led the study.
The study involved 50 pairs of parents and 50 children with an average age of eight years for the children and 43 years for the parents. The participants were served a typical German dinner with sliced bread, cold cuts, cheese, and fruits and vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces.
Researchers suggest that the duration of the meal is one of the central components of a family meal, which parents can vary to improve their children’s diets.
The study found that longer family meals did not lead to increased consumption of bread, cold cuts, or desserts. Instead, the bite-sized pieces of fruits and vegetables were easier to eat and more enticing for the children.