This may not come as a surprise, but if you want your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, start eating them yourself. In a study of more than 1,300 families, researchers found that when parents boosted their own consumption of fruits and vegetables, so did their young children.

The findings, reported in the journal Preventive Medicine, point to the importance of parents "modeling" a healthy diet for their preschoolers. The key is to educate parents on nutrition. About half of parents in the study were randomly assigned to receive home visits where they learned about nutrition and tactics for getting their children to eat fruits and vegetables. On average, these parents increased their fruit and vegetable intake, and in turn so did their children.

"We know that parents have a tremendous influence over how many fruits and vegetables their children eat," wrote lead researcher Dr. Debra Haire-Joshu, of Saint Louis University School of Public Health in St. Louis. "When parents eat more fruits and vegetables, so do their children. When parents eat and give their children high-fat snacks or soft drinks, children learn these eating patterns instead."

The study included 1,306 parents of young children who were enrolled in Parents As Teachers, a program that teaches parenting skills through home visits and other activities. Of these parents, 605 were randomly assigned to the High 5 for Kids program in addition to their standard education. Parents in the High 5 group received four home visits in which they learned about nutrition and methods of getting young children to eat fruits and vegetables — including eating the foods in front of their children and allowing them to choose which fruits and vegetables they wanted to eat. In the end, parents in the High 5 group boosted their own fruit and vegetable intake, and children's increases correlated with their parents'

The one exception was children who were already overweight, who generally did not grow fonder of fruits and vegetables.

"Overweight children," Haire-Joshu said, "have already been exposed to salty, sweet foods and learned to like them. To keep a child from becoming overweight, parents need to expose them early to a variety of health foods and offer the foods many times."

— Preventive Medicine, July 2008 and Reuters Health.

WINNING QUESTION

Q: Are biscotti cookies low-calorie?

A: The crisp Italian cookies called biscotti have become a popular accompaniment to coffee. Their double baking makes biscotti dry enough that they may seem low fat, but most contain enough oil or butter that they are not. In fact, biscotti are actually quite concentrated in calories. A typical 1-ounce biscotti contains about 130 calories, with 4 to 7 grams of fat and up to 12 grams, or 3 teaspoons, of sugar. That's basically the same as consuming 1 ounce of popular sandwich cookies, or about 3 cookies. If you enjoy biscotti, it's fine to indulge in one occasionally, just make sure to choose low-calorie, filling and nutritious fruit for your snack and dessert choices most of the time.

— American Institute for Cancer Research.

WINNNING WEB

Too many of us hit the drive-through lane for breakfast these days. The writers at WebMd recently posted a slide show of the worst fast food breakfasts you can choose. For example, McDonald's Deluxe weighs in at 790 calories and a bulging 51 grams of fat. A better bet is an Egg McMuffin at 300 calories and 12 g of fat. To learn more, go to www.webmd.com/diet/slideshow-best-and-worst-fast-food-breakfasts.

WINNING RECIPE

This recipe for Quick Barbecue Chicken, from Cooking Light's September issue, solves the problem of a quick dinner recipe. The skin is left on the chicken to keep the breasts juicy, then discarded just before serving to save calories.

QUICK BARBECUE CHICKEN

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon each: garlic powder, ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 (8-ounce) bone-in chicken breast halves

Cooking spray

Yields 2 servings. (Serving size: one-half chicken breast).

Prepare grill. Combine first 9 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Loosen skin from chicken by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat; rub spice mixture evenly under skin over meat. Lightly coat skin with cooking spray. Place chicken, breast-side down, on a grill for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165 F, turning twice. Let chicken stand 10 minutes. Remove skin. Discard.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 308 calories, 49.4 g protein, 9.7 g fat, 131 mg cholesterol, 738 mg sodium.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian in Springfield, Ill. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com. To find out more about Charlyn Fargo and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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