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Study · Nutrients · 2023Conflicts declared

Potato faces with peas and carrots in school meals

Hernandez Sanchez MG, Bellini S, Christensen WF, et al · Free full text

What it found

In 65 children aged 7 to 13, serving shaped potato faces in the same bowl as mixed peas and carrots led to more of those vegetables being eaten than serving them in separate bowls.

Diced potatoes in the same bowl led to slightly less.

What they found

Studies in people

Potato faces combined

Children ate the most peas and carrots when shaped potato faces were served in the same bowl, 8.77 g more than when the two were in separate bowls.

Diced potatoes combined

Children ate the least peas and carrots when diced potatoes were served in the same bowl, 2.85 g less than when the two were in separate bowls.

Average amounts eaten

Average pea and carrot consumption was 25.6 g with combined shaped potato faces, 23.6 g with separate diced potatoes, 21.1 g for the control roll, 20.8 g with combined diced potatoes, and 16.8 g with separate shaped potato faces.

Age and sex

Older children ate more vegetables than younger ones, and boys ate more than girls. Taller children ate more, and children with higher body fat ate less.

Calories and nutrients

Meals with potatoes generally had higher calories, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, total fat, saturated fat, and potassium eaten than the roll meal. When potatoes were served in the same bowl, more total food, calories, protein, saturated fat, and potassium were eaten.

Hunger and fullness

Self-reported hunger did not differ significantly between the meal conditions.

What the authors conclude

“The results suggest that combining shaped potato faces with vegetables in the same bowl increases vegetable intake.”
Hernandez Sanchez MG, Bellini S, Christensen WF, et al, 2023

Also in their conclusions

  • They say that combining shaped potato faces with vegetables in the same bowl increased vegetable intake, but serving them separately was linked to lower vegetable intake.
  • They state that they are not promoting shaped potato faces as a nutritious component of a healthy diet, and that further research is needed on using other foods to increase vegetable consumption.
  • They advise caution to avoid introducing excessive amounts of fat and sodium through certain potato preparations.

How it was done

Many children do not eat enough vegetables. The authors wanted to see if pairing a liked food, potatoes, with peas and carrots would increase how much of those vegetables children ate at school lunch.

They ran a cross-over study with 65 children aged 7 to 13 who ate five different lunchtime meals in a cafeteria setting, with at least a week between each meal. Each meal had mixed peas and carrots plus either a wheat roll, shaped potato faces, or diced potatoes, served in the same bowl or separate bowls. Plate waste was weighed to measure how much was eaten.

What it can’t tell you

  • The study only tested two potato types, so it cannot show what would happen with French fries, mashed potatoes, or other potato products.
  • It cannot show whether the same results would occur outside this cafeteria setting or with different meal timing, recess schedules, or nutrition education.
  • It cannot prove that the potato itself caused the difference, since other factors like familiarity with the food may have played a role.

The paper

Title
The Effects of Potato Presentation on Vegetable Intake in School-Aged Children: A Cross-Over Study
Type
Study
Evidence
Studies in people
Summarised from
Full text
Cite
Hernandez Sanchez MG, Bellini S, Christensen WF, et al (2023). The Effects of Potato Presentation on Vegetable Intake in School-Aged Children: A Cross-Over Study. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu15214496Free full textPubMed 37960149DOI

Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error