Association of Descriptive Menu Names and Number of Correctly Vegetable Names with Factors Regarding Vegetable Intake in Elementary School Children

ABSTRACT

Children's exposure to various vegetables has been associated with higher preferences and intake of vegetables. Attractive names have been reported to increase children's vegetable intake in school lunches. This study hypothesized that the number of vegetables identified correctly may be used as a measure of exposure to vegetables. The survey was administered to students (n=368) at an elementary school located in Gyeonggi-do to determine the association of number of vegetables identified correctly with factors regarding vegetable intakes and effects of descriptive menu names on consumption intentions in school lunches. Students were asked to identify the correct names for nine vegetables and rate their desire to eat six vegetable dishes labeled with general names and two different descriptive names. Descriptive menu names did not consistently increase subjects' desire to eat vegetables compared to general menu labels. Children who ate two vegetable dishes and more per meal tended to identify the names of more vegetables than those who ate less, without reaching statistical significance (P=0.057). Moreover, 5th graders who answered that they ate more than two vegetable dishes each meal had significantly higher scores in identifying vegetable names than those who did rarely (P < 0.05). There was no significant association between the number of correctly identified vegetable names and children's vegetable preferences and frequency of being served vegetable dishes. Mother's vegetable preference showed a significant positive association with vegetable preferences of children (r=0.147, P < 0.01) and fathers (r=0.340, P < 0.01) as well as the number of correctly identified vegetables by children (r=0.183, P < 0.01). The results of this study cannot support the advantage of descriptive menu labels over general menu labels. However, it suggests that the number of correctly identified vegetable names could serve as a measure of children's exposure to vegetables associated with factors regarding vegetable intake.