Getting Kids to Eat Their Veggies: A New Approach to an Age-Old Problem

Every parent has a different strategy for trying to get his or her kid to eat more vegetables, from growing vegetables together as a family to banning treats until the dinner plate is clean. New research suggests that teaching young children an overarching, conceptual framework for nutrition may do the trick.

ScienceDaily

Why Healthy Eaters Fall for Fries

LAST Tuesday, Connor Moran, a limit-the-red-meat, increase-the-greens, eat-salad-for-lunch kind of guy, stopped into a Bronx Dunkin’ Donuts for his usual black coffee, no sugar, no cream.
He walked out with a sandwich of egg and bacon between two halves of a glazed doughnut.

Such is the puzzle of the food industry: American consumers, even otherwise healthy ones, keep choosing caloric indulgences rather than healthy foods at fast-food restaurants.

NYTimes

From the Mouths of Babes: Toddlers’ Speech Is Far More Advanced Than Previously Thought

The sound of small children chattering away as they learn to talk has always been considered cute — but not particularly sophisticated. However, research by a Newcastle University expert has shown that toddlers’ speech is far more advanced than previously understood.

ScienceDaily

Too Little Sleep May Trigger the ‘Munchies’ by Raising Levels of an Appetite-Controlling Molecule

June 17, 2013 — Insufficient sleep may contribute to weight gain and obesity by raising levels of a substance in the body that is a natural appetite stimulant, a new study finds. The results were presented today at The Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

ScienceDaily