# Functional Foods' Consumption in Children and Parents: A Literature Review
## 4 Discussion  
In recent years, an increasing number of functional products that target specifically younger consumers has been observed; they are easily accessible in marketplaces and provide health benefits to children and at the same time the possibility of decreasing the risk of diseases. Furthermore, the food and beverage market that specifically targets children is growing at a fast pace. In 2014, it was observed that healthy food and drinks \begin{table}
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**Sources** & **Year** & **Country** & **Method** & **Sample Size** & **Main Findings** \\ \hline [PERSON] [48] & 2022 & Canada & Cross-sectotal study & 1054 students (467 boys and 570 girls) & - & Adolescents with stronger culinary and cooking skills reported eating more fruits and vegetables and adopting healthier eating habits. More F&W consumption and healthier eating habits were linked to food and cooking skills in both boys and girls. \\ \hline [PERSON] [47] & 2022 & Minneapolis, USA. & Randomized controlled trial & 114 children (7–10 years old) and their parents & - Children seeing their parents often eating fruit was linked to higher Healthy Eating Index total scores. \\ \hline [PERSON] [39] & 2023 & Portugal & Cohort study & 89 parents/caregivers of one 2- to 6-year-old child & - & Fruit consumption was higher than vegetable consumption. \\ \hline [PERSON] [36] & 2023 & USA & Cross-sectotal study & 18,386 children (1–5 years) & - & Over 50\% of youngsters in 20 US states reported not eating a vegetable every day. About half (49.1%) and about one third (32.1%) of children aged 1–5 did not consume vegetables or fruit daily. \\ \hline [PERSON] [54] & 2023 & Finland & Cross-sectional study & 574 children and their parents & - & A higher parental education level was positively correlated with the amount of fruit and vegetables that children eat. \\ \hline [PERSON] [37] & 2023 & Pokhara, Nepal & Cross-sectotal study & 352 children & - & The WHO recommends \(\geq\) five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, which none of the kids consumed. \\ \hline [PERSON] [37] & 2023 & Pokhara, Nepal & Cross-sectional study & 352 children & - & Adequate F&W consumption was considerably higher in children whose parents had a bachelor’s degree or above and whose household income exceeded NPR 40,000. \\ \hline [PERSON] [55] & 2023 & Six European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain & Cross-sectional analysis & 9576 childrenparents pairs & - & When parents had higher education, families consumed more portions of F&W. \\ \hline [PERSON] [59] & 2023 & USA (Houston, Austin, Dallas, Washington D.C., New York City and Southwest Florida) & Secondary analysis of cross-sectional baseline data & 6074 His-paric/Latino and African American American children & -  African American significantly higher frequency of F&W. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
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Table 3: _Cont._for children were included in the top 10 FF trends. It is widely accepted that children themselves play a significant role in decision-making about food purchases. On the other hand, parents prefer nutritious food for meals and snacks that can actually be beneficial and rich in nutrients for their child's diet but simultaneously can satisfy their child's hunger. Functional foods may also include improved choices over traditional ones and, in this way, they can support parents' choices as well as children's health. Nevertheless, they cannot replace healthy eating. Simultaneously, recent studies have shown an increase in parents' interest and efforts to add more dietary fiber, probiotics/prebiotics and fish oil/omega-3 into their preteen children's diet [1]. In a study conducted by [PERSON] et al. in 2013, there was a positive association between young children's parents who believed that foods could be beneficial for health and additionally that foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids were beneficial for their children's health.