Girls follow mom’s lead when eating fruits, veggies

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When mothers add more fruits and vegetables to their plates, their daughters do as well, new research reports.

Furthermore, moms who ate diets heavy in fruits and veggies were less likely to pressure their daughters to eat more, and their daughters were less likely to become so-called “picky” eaters.

Many parents worry about picky eating in their children. In this study, girls who were picky eaters typically ate less fruits and vegetables than healthy eaters.

However, all girls—whether they picked at their food or not—lacked important nutrients such as calcium and magnesium, study author Dr. Amy T. Galloway told Reuters Health.

Furthermore, picky eaters also ate less fat and sugar, and were less likely to be overweight than girls who were not picky eaters.

“Picky eating has both costs and potential benefits,” said Galloway, who is based at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. “Our findings show that all girls would benefit from consuming more fruits and vegetables, so it may not be worth it for parents to single out picky eaters.”

During the study, Galloway and her colleagues interviewed 173 mothers and their 7-year-old white, non-Hispanic daughters about eating habits, and whether mothers pressured their girls to eat more. When girls turned 9, the researchers contacted them again and determined if they were picky eaters, meaning they only ate a few foods, often refused to eat family meals, and were picky or fussy about what they ate.

Overall, mothers who ate more fruits and vegetables had daughters who ate more fruits and vegetables, Galloway and her team report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Girls whose mothers put pressure on them to eat at age 7 were more likely to be picky eaters at age 9. Picky eaters ate less fruits and vegetables, and were at greater risk of not getting enough vitamins E and C than were non-picky eaters. Picky eaters also ate less fiber.

However, picky eaters were less likely to be overweight and were not underweight. All girls in the study lacked vitamin E, calcium and magnesium, Galloway said.

“Most of the girls in our study, regardless of whether they were picky eaters, did not consume recommended quantities of fruits and vegetables,” she said. “Our findings indicate that (picky eating) might not be as big of a problem as we have assumed.”

Galloway added that the same trends may not be present in young boys, because parents often have different weight expectations for their sons, which may affect parental pressure to eat and boys’ eating habits.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, April 2005.

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