Health gem

If you do one thing this week . . . invent cool names for vegetables

WE ALL know that vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, but kids aren’t always keen to eat them.

However, research suggests that giving vegetables cool names can make them more attractive to children in school lunches.

The study, carried out in New York last year, found that labelling carrots as “X-ray Vision Carrots” encouraged children to eat more of them and to choose carrots the next day.

Another part of the study, just published online in Preventive Medicine, found that over two months, the number of students choosing a hot vegetable dish increased by 99 per cent when the foods were given names such as Power Punch Broccoli and Silly Dilly Green Beans.

Is this one to try at home?