Real-Time Technology Video-Coding Tools for Programming Multisensory Interventions Incorporating Exotic Local Fruits and Vegetables in Early Childhood: Implications for Pediatric Obesity Prevention Research

Abstract

Promoting fruit and vegetable (henceforth referred to as F&V) intake in early childhood is
significant to public health now and in the future.1 One of the goals of Healthy People 2020
(i.e., Goal NSW-15) is to increase the variety and contribution of vegetables in the dietary
habits of the population, including its youngest members (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2014).2 Education efforts fostering the consumption of fruits and vegetables in
young children serve as a catalyst for efforts to combat childhood obesity by helping promote
shifts in dietary patterns with decreased intake of energy-dense foods high in fat and sugars to
foods high in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. In our work with the U.S. federal food assistance
program, Head Start, in the New England region of Western Massachusetts,3 we found
that children were not achieving the recommended F and V intake, and that overweight and
obesity, as well as micronutrient deficiencies (vitamins A and C, and iron) may be prevalent.4
Although the direct correlation between F and V consumption, and lowering of obesity is yet
to be established in this early life-stage, F and V, especially exotic varieties are low-calorie,
low-fat sources of vitamins (vitamin C, carotenoids), minerals, and fiber and provide an array
of phytonutrients and antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory benefits.5