'Big, strong and healthy': Young children's identification of food and drink that contribute to healthy growth

Growing awareness of
the importance of healthy diet in early childhood makes it important to chart
the development of children's understanding of food and drink.  This study aimed to document young
children's evaluation of food and drink as healthy, and to explore
relationships with socioeconomic status, family eating habits, and children's
television viewing.  Data were
gathered from children aged 3 to 5 years (n = 172) in
diverse socioeconomic settings in Ireland, and from their parents. Results
demonstrated that children had very high levels of ability to identify healthy
foods as important for growth and health, but considerably less ability to
reject unhealthy items, although knowledge of these increased significantly
between ages 3 and 5.  Awareness of
which foods were healthy, and which foods were not, was not related to family
socioeconomic status, parent or child home eating habits, or children's
television viewing. Results highlighted the importance of examining young
children's response patterns, as many of the youngest showed a consistent 'yes
bias'; however, after excluding these responses, the significant findings
remained. Findings suggest it is important to teach children about less healthy
foods in the preschool years.