New research says giving children water encourages them to eat more veges.
But a Papamoa-based registered dietician is not so sure.
Rachel Scrivin, owner of FoodFX, said she found it hard to believe a University of Oregon study, which said children who drink more water have a healthier appetite for
vegetables.
Mrs Scrivin said she saw no plausible reason why it would work and was curious to see the research paper in its entirety.
A team from the University of Oregon in America looked at the drinks and vegetables consumed by 75 children aged 3 to 5.
The children ate more raw vegetables such as carrots or capsicums, when they had water with a meal rather than if they had a soft drink.
Mrs Scrivin, a mum of three boys aged 6, 4, and 2, said she was sceptical. ``Why would it? Why would kids drink water and eat veges? There's no plausible link there,'' she said.
It was her opinion that for the study to be credible, it must be a double blind randomised control trial and statistically significant.
In her experience, children were more likely to eat vegetables if it was a habitual and learned practice from their parents, or they were presented vegetables in a way that was appealing to them.
There was nothing wrong with drinking water with vegetables but Ms Scrivin said that as a dietician, it wouldn't be her recommendation to drink excessive amounts due to the dulling effect on children's appetites.
``Water may also fill them up more than anything,'' she said.
The university study's co-author, Professor Bettina Cornwell, was quoted in Australia's Courier Mail as saying that from an early age, children learn to associate sweet, high-calorie drinks such as colas with salty and fatty foods like chips.
She said: ``Our taste preferences are heavily influenced by repeated exposure to particular foods and drinks. This begins early through exposure to meals served at home and by meal combinations offered by many restaurants.''
On the Bay of Plenty Times Facebook page, Leighton Bryce Werahiko wrote: ``My children do drink a lot of water and they do eat the vegetables so it's very interesting to know about more of this study.''
