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School children worried about being teased for eating fruit and vegetables

School children worried about being teased for eating fruit and vegetables
27 Mar 2017
Research by psychologists at Staffordshire University has found that school children are worried about being teased for eating fruit and vegetables.

The study, published in the British Food Journal, is based on interviews with a small sample of nine to 11 year olds attending an after school club in the West Midlands area.

Although the study showed that children have a good awareness of the health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables, some children were worried about being teased.

Dr Rachel Povey, lecturer in psychology, said: "The children did have a good knowledge of healthy eating and support from their families so it was interesting to learn about the strong influence of peers. There seems to be a consensus among children that healthy food isn't socially acceptable."

One child described eating a mushroom to be like ‘eating a small furry animal’ and another suggested that mushrooms tasted like "’slimy worms’.