Only about 7 percent of young children eat the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables, the Formosa Cancer Foundation said yesterday.
A foundation survey conducted last month of about 400 students, found that elementary-school children on average consume 1.55 servings of fruit and 1.72 servings of vegetables per day, foundation vice president Tsai Li-chuan (蔡麗娟) said.
The Health Promotion Administration’s recommended daily intake is two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day, but only 7 percent of children surveyed said they ate that much, she said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
The survey found that the top three reasons for not eating enough fruit and vegetables were that the child is a picky eater and does not like vegetables, life is busy and preparing fruit and vegetables is too troublesome, and the family mostly eats out at places with limited fruit and vegetable options.
Although nearly 80 percent of the children eat breakfast, nearly 90 percent only eat fruit and vegetables at lunch and dinner, Tsai said.
More than 50 percent of parents said they were aware that their children do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and were trying to improve it, the survey showed.
Chen Mu-jung (陳木榮), superintendent of Your Doctor Clinic, a pediatric clinic in New Taipei City, said that many children eat out or consume ready-to-eat food such as steamed buns, sandwiches and bread for breakfast out of convenience.
However, high carbohydrate foods can cause a child’s blood sugar level to soar, making them drowsy, emotionally unstable and even affecting their learning potential, Chen said.
Fruits and vegetables can provide essential nutrients to the human body, such as vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, he said, adding that consuming sufficient amounts of vegetables helps maintain a healthy immune system, while improving children’s emotional stability and digestive health.
Chen said that parents can add easy-to-eat fruit to their children’s breakfast, such as kiwifruit or guava, to increase their intake, or add fruit, vegetables, cheese or meat to bread to make a more nutritionally balanced breakfast.
Foundation dietitian Hsu Kuei-ting (徐桂婷) said the survey showed that the average fruit and vegetables intake of children is not too far from the recommended serving, and that the gap can be made up by adding fruit and vegetables to children’s breakfast.
She said that parents can add easy-to-prepare fruit such as bananas, kiwifruit and grapes to their children’s breakfast meals, which they can also easily take to school to eat if they are in a rush.
Eating more fruit and vegetables can also help children focus bettering during the school day, Hsu said.
If parents have time to make breakfast, they can change the shape and texture of vegetables that their children dislike and make them into delicious meals, such as by adding pieces of vegetables to an omelet or mixing fresh fruit into yogurt, she said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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