In a new study, 186 4-year-olds in a pre-school were given plain carrots and, on other lunch days, they were given the same vegetables renamed "X-ray Vision Carrots". On the latter days, they ate nearly twice as many.

And here's the surprising thing - the children continued to eat about 50 per cent more carrots, even on the days when they were no longer labeled as anything special.

The research was carried out in pre-schools but the researchers expect that the "special name trick" to work in the home situation as well.

"Cool names can make for cool foods," says lead author Professor Brian Wansink of Cornell University. "Whether it be 'power peas' or 'dinosaur broccoli trees,' giving a food a fun name makes kids think it will be more fun to eat.

He's showed similar results to the fancy-name dishes with adults. In a restaurant study he did, he showed that when the "Seafood Fillet" was changed to "Succulent Italian Seafood Fillet", sales increased 28 per cent and taste rating increased by 12 per cent. "Same food, but different expectations, and a different experience," said Wansink, author of an excellent book of the subject called "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think."

I'm a great fan of Wansink's research which has focused on portion sizes in the past. He's shown that we tend to eat the portion served up to us regardless of how hungry we actually feel or how recently we've eaten.

His new research is great news for parents trying to find ways to get their kids to eat veggies. So I've done a quick survey of all my mum friends and here's a list of fun silly names you can try out on your kids!

Carrots: Bugs food, See-in-the-dark food, Chariots.

Broccoli: Little trees, Gregory Green

Green beans: Mister Bean, Shrek food, Warrior sticks, Greenie Beanies

Others: Super Duper Spinach, Captain Cauliflower, Tomatees, Punkins, Gollyflower and Pea-Peas.

Catherine Saxelby is a nutritionist and author of Nutrition for Life. Get more healthy eating tips at www.foodwatch.com.au