There’s a dangerous trend in Louisiana that’s putting the health of kids at risk. Last week, half of the young children in our state likely had fruit less than once a day. And a whopping 65% had vegetables less than once a day.
As a physician, I know that this problem can lead to childhood obesity and increase the risk of chronic disease later in life. But there are steps policymakers can take now to put more fruits and vegetables on children’s plates.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed 18,000 parents in 2021 about their kids’ consumption of fruits, vegetables and sugary drinks. The recently published results, based on a snapshot of the diets of U.S. 1- to 5-year-olds over a week, show that one in three didn’t eat a daily fruit and nearly half didn’t eat a daily vegetable. The state-by-state data shows the results for Louisiana are even more dismal.
We know that studies show that adults who consume a low-fat vegan diet — rich in fruits and vegetables — get protective benefits from many diseases and conditions, including heart attacks, diabetes and, stroke, as well as cancer, and obesity. But this diet also lowers the risk of heart disease in obese children by improving their weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, according to a Cleveland Clinic Study.
Research also shows other benefits for kids who eat a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
They experience less severe symptoms of inattention from ADHD, one study suggests, while another study documents improved mental well-being among schoolchildren who ate more fruits and vegetables. And the effect of early weight gain on other chronic diseases was documented in a study that showed childhood obesity may lead to hypertension later in life.
So, in our state, where more than one in four children lives in poverty and one in five kids faces hunger, what can be done to get children to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink less sugary drinks?
First, let’s make sure our food assistance programs are making the biggest impact.
Congress should fully support and expand the Gus Schumacher Incentive Program, which improves access to fruits, vegetables, beans and grains for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants. Lawmakers should also pursue legislation that would expand the availability of plant-based meals in the National School Lunch Program. And the federal government can move forward with proposed changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly referred to as WIC, that will provide a greater quantity and variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and nondairy alternatives for recipients.
But there’s even more that can be done. For example, the state can add flexibility to Medicare and Medicaid programs to include produce prescription programs that put fruits and vegetables into the hands of those most needy who suffer from chronic diseases.
Families and community partners across the state should support educational programs, such as cooking classes, that put vegetables and fruits front and center in fun, collaborative, hands-on ways. And parents themselves must begin to model healthy eating habits for their kids.
There is much at stake if the trends shown in the CDC’s latest report aren’t curtailed. Kids will grow into unhealthy adults with chronic diseases that are passed down to their own families, taking a toll on generations to come.
Let’s make Louisiana a national leader in making sure every child in the state has access to healthy meals.
Ronald Quinton, a thoracic-cardiovascular surgeon and certified culinary medicine specialist in New Orleans, is medical director of the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine.
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