by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Parenting

Is your toddler eating enough vegetables" Chances are high that she isn?t, according to a new study on the dietary habits of children under age 2.
Researchers analyzed survey data on almost 2,400 young children and infants gathered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 2005 and 2012. Parents answered detailed questions on what their children ate on 2 random days.
The results: Vegetable consumption among toddlers and older babies was worryingly low. In fact, about 1 in 4 babies old enough to eat solid food didn?t consume any vegetables at all on the days surveyed. That figure improved only slightly among 1-year-old children, with 1 in 5 reportedly eating no vegetables on the randomly selected days. Dark green vegetables in particular didn?t get much love. Consumption of these greens among 1-year-olds declined by half over the survey period, the researchers reported.

Can you guess the most popular vegetable" Fried white potatoes ? a.k.a. French fries. Hardly the healthiest vegetable choice given that fries contain high amounts of saturated fat and lack the phytochemicals and antioxidants present in other vegetables.
That said, the surveys didn?t take into account what the kids might have eaten on other days. Also, the research relied on parents accurately reporting what their children ate, which can be hard to remember, especially when you?re a busy caregiver.
Still, studies show that he...