KEY POINTS:
Everyone knows you should eat fruit because it's good for you.
But a new study has found that it's not just how much but when you eat it.
A study at the University of Auckland into fruit concentrated on the dietary habits of children aged 6 to 23 months.
Toddlers need fruit for iron, which helps development of their brains.
Deborah Brunt, a Masters student at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, found that children got more iron from fruit depending on when they ate it.
Children who are given fruit or juice as part of their regular meals have a higher level of iron in their blood than those that eat fruit at other times of the day, or not at all.
The reason appears to be that your body is primed for maximum absorption of nutrients during regular mealtimes, but less so at other times.
The Vitamin C in fruit actually helps the absorption of iron.
The study analysed data from interviews with 405 families about their toddlers' food and general habits and compared this information to laboratory measures of their iron status.
The results showed that 20 per cent of Maori children were iron deficient, compared to 16 per cent of Pacific children and 7 per cent of European children in the same age group.
Children did not eat as much fruit as they should.
More than half had two or more servings of fruit per day but only one in ten ate the recommended 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, regardless of ethnicity or social level. Those children that ate fruit at meal times had better iron status than those who ate fruit as a snack or not at all.
"Iron is very important for young children, who are growing and developing at a fast rate," says Deborah Brunt of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.
"Without adequate iron, brain development is impaired and this can have long lasting effects on learning. By eating fruit or drinking fruit juices at meal times, parents can vastly improve their child's iron level and subsequently provide them with a better chance of developing to their full potential."
