Taiwanese children are picky eaters with unhealthy dietary habits, studies conducted by the Child Welfare League Foundation yesterday revealed.
The study found that almost 50 percent of children do not consume fruit everyday, 40 percent do not eat their daily vegetable portions and 30 percent of all kids are picky eaters.
The least appealing food to children, in descending order of most detested, are bitter melons, eggplant and Chinese wild yam.
Although the kids rejected essential veggies in their diet, they reportedly loved pigging out on junk food, sugary drinks, fried food and other high-glucose, high-calorie but low nutrient edibles. The foundation studies also found that children tend to favor heavier flavors.
Alicia Wang, executive director of the Child Welfare League Foundation, said 37 percent of children drank at least one packaged, sugary drink a day; almost 16 percent had daily junk food intake of some sort; and 46 percent had fried food at least once a week.
With a junk food-heavy diet exacerbated by a lack of fruit and vegetables, a reported 30 percent of the children are constipated and do not defecate daily, Wang said.
Commercials on TV have also proven to be misleading, with as many as 40 percent of the children believing that consuming a vegetable drink carries the same nutritional value as eating solid vegetables. They did not know that they were merely consuming sugary liquid containing very few vitamins.
Wang urged parents to take responsibility for their children's eating habits and not adopt a laissez-faire attitude when kids refuse to eat certain foods. On the other hand, parents are asked to not put too much pressure on the children, which can result in hatred and a negative opinion of certain food groups, she added.
As a solution, the Child Welfare League Foundation proposed that parents should encourage their kids to eat by explaining to them the benefits of nutritious produce. Changing up the nightly menu may also help them discover what they like and do not. Lastly, offer a variety of vegetable and fruit options — at least three portions of veggies and two of fruit per day.
