Study finds kids' favorite veggies are french fries

A lot of parents may have mixed feelings about President Trump’s decision to scrap Michelle Obama’s healthy school meals program, dropping sodium limits and requirements for whole grains.

There’s no question that kids need to eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods, but lunch ladies know that a lot of those healthy foods wind up in the trash.

But school lunches are only a fraction of the big picture when it comes to nutrition. School lunches account for only 176 meals a year for McCook Public School students, leaving parents responsible for 919 meals a year.

Even if kids eat breakfast at school, parents should be providing 743 meals at home.

The problem is, the, most children aren’t getting the right kind of meals at home, and haven’t developed a taste for healthy foods when they get to school.

A study published this week in the journal Pediatrics backs up that idea.

Ninety percent of kids consistently eat only one type of vegetable, potatoes, in the form of french fries. And, more than half of babies aren’t getting any breast milk.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill surveyed parents about infant and toddler eating habits, comparing data from 2,359 participants for the latest study.

They found toddlers were more likely to eat fried white potatoes than green vegetables.

Consumption of green veggies fell by half during the study, to only about eight percent of toddlers by the end. They also drink a lot of sweetened beverages and sugary snacks, according to the study.

With Sunday’s snow melting away quickly, now’s a good time to be getting that garden ready for planting, and getting kids involved with the planting, harvesting and eating of that fresh local produce might be a good way to encourage lifetime healthy dining habits.