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Veggies Undercover

Peppers



Several years ago, there was a raging debate over the wisdom of hiding pureed vegetables or fruits in children’s food. Parents with picky eaters were at the forefront of this movement. They reasoned that since vegetables and fruits are so important for good health, it was okay to get this nutrition into their children in whatever way they could – especially without the arguments. Specialty cookbooks included recipes such as cauliflower, zucchini, sweet potatoes or carrots transformed into mac and cheese and spinach, broccoli and green peas made into lasagna. Those against this strategy argued that by hiding vegetables you aren’t teaching your children about “real” vegetables or exposing them to new tastes that they can get used to.

More recently, this approach has been tried with adults. Researchers at Penn State varied the amount of hidden pureed vegetables in foods given to study participants. They found that added vegetables led to substantial reductions in calories and increases in vegetable intakes. Overall, people felt the dishes were acceptable in taste and they didn’t feel any hungrier.

So, the debate still continues. Do you think it is deceitful to hide vegetables in foods? Does good nutrition override everything? Is it okay to add veggies in dishes for kids, but not for adults?

I take the middle road on this one. If I had a picky eater at home, I think I would hide the veggies to provide good nutrition, but also keep serving the whole veggies as well. Particularly for kids, many need to be given a food ten times before they will actually eat it. There are so many wonderful vegetable recipes, you are bound to find a few that are acceptable.

What is your opinion on “stealth” veggies?
 

by LindaGotthelf on 08/22/2011 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: Diet Tools, motivation, strategies, kids

About the Author

Linda Gotthelf

Linda is the Director of Research and has a Ph.D in Psychology specializing in behavioral medicine. She is a founding member of HMR, starting as a health educator and working in several roles since 1984 and has been a co-author on many professional articles.

Comments (4) Post a comment
Heck I do it to my grandchild if it works great. I buy her the V8 juice for when she comes over. She either drinks that or water no pop. Her mom also put in a garden and she enjoys eating what she grows.
by Healthyme on 08/26/2011
Thanks for the comments. It's great that you both are introducing vegetables to your children - both hidden and in the actual form. Either way, the vegetables count!
by LindaGotthelf on 08/25/2011
I've read about the pros and cons for the "sneaky chef" as it pertains to hiding fruits and vegetables and I think I am somewhere in the middle. I eat everything and am not picky at all, and my children eat quite a variety also, but there are some veggies that they are not as fond of. Those are the ones I tend to "hide". I put cauliflower in the mac n' cheese, I add spinach to pasta sauce and casseroles, I've put beet puree in chocolate muffins, and shredded zucchini in a number of meals and baked goods! I also think of it as adding nutrition to meals, like adding shredded carrots to scrambled eggs, and green pepper or carrot purees to pasta sauces. I do tell them it is in there but they can't pick it out- that's the part I think of as sneaky!
by PeggyKerans on 08/23/2011
As a kid, we always had several veggies on the table at dinner. However, they were overcooked so much that they were soggy and lacked flavor. I really didn't care for veggies because of that. As an adult, I have had to reintroduce myself to veggies and experiment with them. Which I also do with my daughter! It is amazing how preparation/cooking a veggie can change its flavor!
by SuzanneAMGHMR on 08/23/2011