Using Herbs and Spices to Increase Vegetable Intake Among Rural Adolescents.

Objective: To test whether adding herbs and spices to school lunch vegetables increases selection and intake compared with lightly salted control versions among rural adolescents.

Design: This study compared intake of vegetables with herbs and spices with lightly salted controls (phase I) and tested whether 5 repeated exposures would increase students' intake of herb and spice seasoned vegetables (phase II).

Participants And Setting: A total of 600-700 students at a rural middle/high school (age 11-18 years).

Feeding Strategies Derived from Behavioral Economics and Psychology Can Increase Vegetable Intake in Children as Part of a Home-Based Intervention: Results of a Pilot Study.

Background: Behavioral economics and psychology have been applied to altering food choice, but most studies have not measured food intake under free-living conditions.

Objectives: To test the effects of a strategy that pairs positive stimuli (ie, stickers and cartoon packaging) with vegetables and presents them as the default snack.

Design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted with children who reported consumption of fewer than two servings of vegetables daily.

Bitter taste phenotype and body weight predict children's selection of sweet and savory foods at a palatable test-meal.

Previous studies show that children who are sensitive to the bitter taste of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) report more frequent intake of sweets and less frequent intake of meats (savory fats) relative to children who are PROP insensitive. Laboratory studies are needed to confirm these findings. In this study, seventy-nine 4- to 6-year-olds from diverse ethnicities attended four laboratory sessions, the last of which included a palatable buffet consisting of savory-fats (e.