As parents when we want to convince our kids to eat new foods it seems natural to extol their health benefits.
"Jicama is soooo fun to eat--and full of fiber!"
"Milk will help fill your tummy and build strong bones!"
"Plain yogurt is the best--none of those nasty added sugars!"
Sounds enticing to me, but it turns out that kids are not impressed.
A 2014 study found that children are actually less likely to eat a food if they have been told how healthy it is. Just like a kid, right?
I witnessed this very phenomenon with my own eyes a few days ago. Saturday morning I baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins adapted from a quick bread recipe in
The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I switched up the method a bit, subbed in some whole wheat flour, cut the sugar, and trimmed the amount of chocolate chips. The result was delicious -- tender, still sweet, and very pumpkin-y.
