New York, Feb 23 (IANS): Eating moderate amount of almonds daily right from the childhood days can drastically improve health later in life, a study has found.

"If a parent is able to incorporate almonds or different healthy snacks into a child's diet, it's more likely that the child will choose those snacks later on in life," said lead researcher Alyssa Burns from University of Florida.

To reach the conclusion, researchers studied the effect that the addition of almonds can have on a person's diet quality.

For a 14-week study, data was collected from 28 pairs of parents and children.

The parents were instructed to eat 42.52 grams of almonds each day and the children were encouraged to eat 14.17 grams of almonds or an equivalent amount of almond butter each day.

The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition Research, showed that after the almond intervention, the average "Healthy Eating Index" score for parents and children increased.

The results suggest that whole food approaches, like adding almonds to one's diet, may be an achievable way to improve overall public health.

"Adding a variety of fruits, vegetables and nuts to your diet can improve your overall diet quality," Burns added, suggesting parents and children to replace salty and processed snacks with almonds.