Dip, Dip, Hooray -- Kids Eat More Veggies With Flavored Dips

Many parents have a difficult time persuading their preschool-aged children to try vegetables, let alone eat them regularly.

Food and nutrition researchers have found that by offering a dip flavored with spices, children were more likely to try vegetables -- including those they had previously rejected.

"Less than 10 percent of 4- to 8-year-olds consume the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) recommended daily servings of vegetables," said Jennifer S. Savage, associate director of the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Penn State. "

Even more striking is that over one-third of children consume no servings of vegetables on a typical day. We wanted to figure out a way to increase vegetable consumption."

Kirtland Peterson

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