How to get adults to eat their vegetables

Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend that adult women eat five serves of vegetables/day and adult men 5.5 serves — all very good. But how do you get adults to eat their veggies?

You can go down the disguise path — puree the vegetables and hide them in more popular food or incorporate them in juices — but this is not a long-term solution and does not help adults to overcome their vegetable aversions.

At the University of Illinois researchers are investigating whether ginger, curry, rosemary, garlic or other herbs and spices can encourage adults to routinely consume more vegetables. A significant advantage of this approach is that herbs and spices do not add sodium or fat to the products — just flavour for increased palatability.

Nutrition doctoral student at U of I Cassandra Nikolaus, and assistant professor of agricultural and consumer economics Brenna Ellison conducted a study to first establish which consumers already use herbs and spices, which herbs and spices they use and how they used them.

In their study, the researchers collected information on what spices and herbs consumers like, how frequently they use them, whether they are used when cooking vegetables, and whether the participants feel proficient in cooking with spices and herbs. Participants were given a list of 20 spices and herbs to choose from.

Younger respondents in the survey (18–29 years) and those who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or other used 19 of the 20 spices and herbs more frequently than their older and white/Caucasian, African-American or Hispanic counterparts. Women were more likely to use spices and herbs when cooking at home. Women and individuals aged 18–49 felt more confident in their ability to cook with spices and herbs, while those who identified as white/Caucasian or those with an annual income below $50,000 exhibited less confidence.

The data revealed that age and cultural differences were linked to which of the 20 spices people were more inclined to like or use. For example, older participants were less inclined to like and use bolder spices and herbs like cayenne pepper or coriander and tended to stick to milder flavours such as paprika or garlic.

As part of the study, Nikolaus created a chart categorising which spices were most well liked, less well liked and least well liked, based on the demographic subpopulations that participated in the study.

As part of a larger team, the researchers are now collecting data in an actual dining setting, observing diners’ consumption of vegetables when spices or herbs have been added. They want to see if diners choose the vegetables that have been cooked with spices and herbs, and if fewer of those vegetables go to waste.

Such information would be useful in Australia when ready meal manufacturers want to increase vegetable consumption — especially in the low-income, male, older than 50 years and white/Caucasian respondents target demographics.

‘Spice and herb use with vegetables: Liking, frequency, and self-efficacy among U.S. adults’ has been published in the American Journal of Health Behavior. Co-authors include Cassandra J Nikolaus, Brenna Ellison, Pamela A Heinrichs, Sharon M Nickols-Richardson and Karen M Chapman-Novakofski, all of the University of Illinois.

This research was supported by a grant from the McCormick Science Institute.

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