Kids won't eat veggies? Try rewards, a study says (Reuters) - If
your preschoolers turn up their noses at carrots or celery, a
small reward like a sticker for taking even a taste may help get
them to eat previously shunned foods, a UK study said. Though it
might seem obvious that a reward could tempt young children to
eat their vegetables, the idea is actually controversial,
researchers wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
That's because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire
and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked,
said Jane Wardle, a researcher at University College London who
worked on the study. Verbal praise, such as "Brilliant! You're a
great vegetable taster," did not work as well. "We would
recommend that parents consider using small non-food rewards,
given daily for tasting tiny pieces of the food -- smaller than
half a little finger nail," Wardle said in an email. The study
found that when parents gave their three- and four-year-olds a
sticker each