Despite the World Health Organisation's recommendations launched in the early 1990s to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables daily, research published in the latest issue of Public Health Nutrition suggests that more than one-third of British children under six years fail to eat any fruit or vegetables on a daily basis.
The report by Cancer Research UK also found that the amount of fruit and vegetables consumed by children is directly related to their parents' eating habits.
"Demographic variables associated with child's vegetable consumption were mother's education and child's age and gender. Only ethnicity was significantly associated with fruit consumption," said the researchers. Parental consumption, breast-feeding and early introduction to fruit and vegetables were related to intake of both, they added.
The study of more than 550 nursery school pupils was led by Lucy Cooke at Cancer Research UK's Health Behaviour Unit at University College, London.
Questionnaires were sent to 22 nursery schools in North London and parents were asked questions including whether the children in the family ate the same food as adults, whether the family ate at the same time and in the same place.
Researchers found that family mealtimes were associated with more frequent intake of vegetables though not of fruit. Better-educated parents had children who ate vegetables more often and the earlier a child was introduced to these foods the more frequent their intake, according to the study.
"Fruit consumption was affected by breast-feeding and early introduction to fruit, whereas vegetable consumption was related only to child's gender and enjoyment of food," said the UK research group.
There is strong scientific evidence to support the view that eating regular daily servings of 'powerhouse' fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of chronic disease. With obesity and heart disease rates rising - according to the UN-backed WHO heart disease kills more people around the world than any other disease - across the globe government's are finding themselves weighed down by rapidly mounting health bills.
Looking for strategies to improve the health of populations many have launched a series of national health guidelines reaching out to the consumer to encourage them to consume '5 a day' of fruit and vegetables. A greater understanding of children's eating patterns, such as the recent study at UCL, will contribute to formulating the right strategies that will be effective in bringing about a better nutritional status to populations.
Full findings of the 'Demographic, familial and trait predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption by pre-school children' study are published in the April 2004 issue of Public Health Nutrition, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 295-302(8).