Talking therapies for anxiety and depression in people affected by dementia: A scoping meta-review.

The consumption of vegetables is critical for children’s health and development with many economically developed countries implementing public health strategies to promote vegetable consumption early in childhood. This is necessary because the majority of children in these countries do not eat sufficient vegetables each day that may negatively impact their health, well-being and development. For example, in the UK, fewer than one in five children eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, the recommended daily intake, with one in three 5–10-year-olds eating less than one portion of vegetables a day. These concerning UK-based data are reflected similarly in other Westernised countries. Children’s consumption of a diet based on energy-dense highly palatable foods lacking in fruit and vegetables is a significant public health issue as this diet composition is associated with the onset of noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, some cancers and CVD. To optimise the way in which parents/caregivers feed their children, practical guidelines have been developed from empirical research findings. These guidelines reinforce the importance of children being exposed to vegetables from an early age for optimal health and development. For example, Mennella found that mothers who drank carrot juice during pregnancy had children who were more likely to eat and enjoy the flavour of carrots at the complementary feeding stage compared to a control group. Research has also shown that the approach taken to introduce children to solid foods can substantially influence their liking and consumption of foods. Of relevance here is evidence showing that young children who are exposed to raw vegetables during complementary feeding, compared to those who are not, demonstrated greater liking and consumption of raw vegetables in later childhood. Research also shows that it can take up to fifteen attempts at trying a food before children learn to like it. This highlights the need for persistence in offering children a disliked food which is likely to be particularly true for vegetables as they are frequently rejected and require repeated offering before acceptance. It is also important to highlight that although children’s vegetable (and micronutrient) intake can be increased covertly, such as by adding or masking vegetables in other foods (e.g. smoothies, overt repeated exposure is required to support many children with learning to like the taste of vegetables so that vegetables become an accepted part of their diet across their lifespan. Over the past two decades, substantial evidence has been presented showing that most children do not meet the WHO’s recommendation that the public consumes five or more portions (≥400 g) of fruit and vegetables each day. While many countries have attempted to increase children’s vegetable intake through national child feeding guidance and public health interventions, these strategies and policies have been relatively ineffective as a high proportion of children in most Westernised countries continue to consume an insufficient amount of vegetables each day. To address this, it is necessary to consider more innovative and pragmatic ways to increase children’s vegetable intake. In Westernised countries, caregivers implementing best practice child feeding methods offer children vegetables at lunch, dinner and for snacks, but it is unusual for children to be routinely offered vegetables for breakfast. One reason for this may be that vegetables are perceived as an ‘inappropriate’ food to be offered/served to children at this time of the day.