Supersize me. Serving carrots whole versus diced influences children's consumption

© 2019 Children in Australia and similar countries consume low amounts of vegetables. The present study investigated if children's carrot consumption can be heightened by providing whole vs diced carrots in a real life setting. Children (n = 60, 25 males, ages 8.6 ± 1.6 yrs.) watched a 90-min movie on two different occasions, while randomly being served 1000 g of diced carrots on one occasion and whole carrots on the other occasion. Consumption, hunger and taste liking were measured at the start, 10 min and 90 min after the consumption period started. Overall, the consumption of whole carrots (median intake: 39 g after 10 min) was significantly higher (Z = −2.4, p = 0.02), than the consumption of diced carrots (median intake: 26 g after 10 min), and trended towards being higher after 90 min (median intake whole: 126 g, median intake diced: 66 g, z = −1.7, p = 0.08). The majority of children (67%) consumed more whole than diced carrots with the increase in consumption being on average 75% greater when carrots were presented whole as opposed to diced. Although liking of carrots was significantly correlated with consumption (diced: r = 0.63, p < 0.0001; whole r = 0.51, p < 0.0001), a difference in liking or a change in liking during consumption could not explain the difference between the consumption of diced and whole carrots. The present study suggests that serving carrots whole, rather than diced could be a promising strategy to increase children's vegetable consumption in a snacking occasion.