Study: If Healthy Food Tastes And Looks Good, Kids Will Eat It

This article is sponsored by Planet Fitness.

DETROIT (WWJ) - If healthy food at school tastes and looks good, students will eat it, a new study finds.

The research, out of Harvard University, involved more than 2,500 students in grades three through eight, at 14 different elementary and middle schools.

As it turns out, when schools worked with a professional chef to improve the taste of meals, students ate more fruits and vegetables.

Researchers said the children also ate better when the food was displayed differently in the cafeteria. For example, when fruits were placed in attractive containers and when vegetables were offered at the front of the lunch line.

This makes sense to Tom Rifai, the medical director for nutrition and weight management at St. Joesph Mercy Oakland Hospital in Pontiac.

Rifai says that when it comes to eating, presentation and taste go hand in hand.

"The visual presentation really sets the mind up, then the taste seals the deal," said Rifai. "And then you get kids — if you're patient, over time — that will increase their fiber intake, increase their potassium intake for the health of their heart and brains for a lifetime to come."

The study was published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Read more here.