Food Presentation Matters to Even Small Kids: Study

Food presentation really does matter to kids as they have been found to eat more when the food is arranged according to their preference, finds a new study.

Food presentation may help parents make their children eat nutritious food. Young girls aged 7-8 were found to prefer the separate serving style, while boys of the same age do not have a preference for how the food is arranged.

The findings of this study are published in the Journal of Sensory Studies.

Study Says Hiding Vegetables in Kids' Foods can Increase Vegetable Intake
Adding pureed vegetables to kids' favorite foods can increase the consumption of vegetable intake, finds study.

‘It was also found that children between 12 and 14 preferred the food to be either mixed together or served as a mix of separates. ’

'As a researcher, I have anecdotally heard parents say that their children prefer to have their food served in a particular way, including in a specific order. But we do not have much evidence-based knowledge about how children sort and eat their food, which is very relevant when, for example, we want our children to eat more vegetables - or eat their food in general,' says Associate Professor Annemarie Olsen from Future Consumer Lab, at the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen.

In addition to being a helping hand for parents, the research can be used to optimize meal programmes in schools and meals that are delivered to pupils by external suppliers.

Big gains with little effort

New Device to Eliminate Food Wastage
New device developed by researchers tests whether the food is safe for consumption, this could greatly reduce food waste worldwide, say researchers.

We already know that you can get children to eat more fruits and vegetables just by presenting them in small portions and making them freely available, so you can easily grab them and eat them. We also know that the visual presentation affects how much children eat.

'At the same time, it would be nice to know whether there are big gains to be made just by arranging food on the plate in a certain way,' says Annemarie Olsen.

Italy's New Initiative to Combat Food Wastage
To combat food waste and feed the recession-hit Italy, a soup kitchen in a gritty neighbourhood in Rome serves gourmet food donated from a famous delicatessen

100 children ranked food according to their preferred serving style.

The researchers asked 100 schoolchildren, aged 7-8 and 12-14 years, to make a priority list of photos of six different dishes served in three different ways:

Why People Waste Food? Here�s Why
Behavioral changes and perceptions such as 'It's not me, it's them” are what is really making the young adults waste food.

With the elements of the food presented separately so they did not touch each other
As a mix of separate ingredients and ingredients that were mixed together
With all the food mixed together

From the children's prioritization of the displayed photos, the researchers could see which presentation of the food they liked best and which serving style they least cared for. The study shows that the younger girls (aged 7-8) prefer the separate serving style, while boys of the same age do not have a preference for how the food is arranged. The research also shows that children between 12 and 14 prefer food to be either mixed together or served as a mix of separate and mixed-together ingredients.

A separated serving style is the best solution

The research does not say why younger girls prefer to have their food served as separate ingredients.

'One suggestion could be that they believe that the different ingredients could contaminate each other. But it could also be that they prefer to eat the different elements in a certain order or that the clear delineation just provides a better overview,' says Annemarie Olsen, who, based on the research, advises that you serve food separated on the plate - at least when it comes to the younger age groups.

'The child can mix the food when the various elements of the food are separated on the plate, while the reverse is not possible,' she says.

Source-Eurekalert