--- title: You Can Teach Kids to Eat Vegetables, Says Science description: A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds finds that young children can, in fact, learn to like vegetables. canonical: https://time.com/2803479/vegetables-taught-science/ author: Bijan Stephen article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-01T13:00:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:44.056Z og:title: You Can Teach Kids to Eat Vegetables, Says Science og:description: A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds finds that young children can, in fact, learn to like vegetables. og:url: https://time.com/2803479/vegetables-taught-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You Can Teach Kids to Eat Vegetables, Says Science twitter:description: A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds finds that young children can, in fact, learn to like vegetables. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # You Can Teach Kids to Eat Vegetables, Says Science > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=69eca24e-eeb1-4bf9-967f-ce255df5bcae&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Is Online Marketing Disguised as Games Making Kids Obese? [Watch (HLS stream): Is Online Marketing Disguised as Games Making Kids Obese?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LwfxbvV6.m3u8) (3:06)  _Published 2011-06-27. A statement by the the American Academy of Pediatrics says interactive marketing of junk food online may be contributing to child obesity. TIME's Alice Park shows a few examples of how companies are reaching kids online_ by [Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jun 1, 2014 1:00 PM UTC by [Bijan Stephen](https://time.com/author/bijan-stephen/) ## Bijan Stephen Jun 1, 2014 1:00 PM UTC Parents, listen up! (Conversely: Picky preschoolers beware). A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds finds that young children _can_, in fact, learn to like vegetables. During the [experiment](http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0097609), each of the 332 children (aged between 4 and 38 months old) was given between 5 and 10 “exposures to a novel vegetable”—i.e., fed one of three variants of artichoke puree: basic, sweetened or “added energy” (added vegetable oil). By the end of the experiment, one in five of the children cleared their plates, while two in five had learned to like artichokes. The researchers also found that sweetening vegetables didn’t have a significant effect on how much children ate as compared to their consumption of the basic puree. Dr. Marion Hetherington of the University of Leeds, the lead scientist on the study, [told the BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-27635861), “if you want to encourage your children to eat vegetables, make sure you start early and often.” You can find the study in full [here](http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0097609)—should you need to whip out some scientific evidence to convince your toddler that vegetables are pretty cool. ## Transcript [00:00] You think your child is playing a video game. Look [00:04] closely, he might actually be in the middle of an [00:06] advertisement. Interactive games like these, which are [00:10] tied to TV commercials, are increasingly popping up all [00:13] over the internet, and are the latest way that [00:15] companies are marketing to young consumers. The [00:18] average child sees nearly 8, 000 food and beverage [00:20] commercials a year. And only 165 of them, are for [00:24] nutritious foods like fruits and vegetables. And now [00:27] youngsters are seeing these ads not just on TV, but on [00:30] their computers as well. In a new policy statement, The [00:33] American Academy of pediatrics says, this type of [00:36] advertising may be one of the ways that TV watching is [00:39] contributing to heavier kids. So let's take a look at [00:42] some examples. Let's start with pebble cereal, which is [00:46] really popular with kids. And they've got a modern [00:49] Stone Age site. And throughout Bedrock, you [00:53] will see advertisements. For a lot of their cereal [00:56] products. Next, let's go to Club BK. Welcome [01:01] to Club BK. On this site, kids can play games, [01:04] accumulate points and they can then use these to [01:09] buy Burger King products, use it at the restaurant. On [01:12] any given day, 30 % of American children eat fast [01:16] food, which amounts to consuming an additional 187 [01:20] kilocalories. And companies haven't forgotten that [01:23] children are also using iPads and Tablets. Here's an [01:27] iPad app from Coca- Cola. [ MUSIC ] [01:35] So it looks like it's based on the Simon game, except [01:39] with Coke products of course. Most American kids take [01:43] in 10 % of their total daily calories in sugared [01:47] sodas. And drinking a can of soda per day, can [01:51] produce a weight gain of 15 pounds in a year. And [01:55] here's one for Apple Jacks cereal. And [01:59] you'll see that you got the Apple Jacks logo throughout [02:02] the race here. Studies consistenly [02:07] show that children who watch more TV are more likely [02:10] to eat higher calories foods. Drink sugared sodas, and [02:13] be overweight than those who don't watch as much. [02:16] There is good news however, the advertising trends [02:19] seems to work both ways. In a study in which children [02:23] were playing add- word games for both healthy and [02:26] junk foods. The kids who played the games for the [02:28] healthy foods, were more likely to request nutritious [02:31] foods like fruits and vegetables than the children who [02:34] were playing the games for unhealthy foods. Parents [02:37] and pediatricians alike, can both pay more attention to [02:41] how much TV their children are watching. And sitting [02:44] down with your children to monitor what they're [02:46] watching, is a good way to educate them about healthy [02:50] and unhealthy eating habits. 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