According to the USDA, vegetables should form the basis of our diet. However, children often do not like vegetables for various reasons: they do not like their taste, texture, or even color. In such a situation, here are some simple tips on how to help your picky eaters establish a healthy relationship with food and vegetables.
Serve vegetables first. If your family doesn’t finish their veggies at mealtimes, consider eating them as the first meal of the day – hungry households are more likely to finish everything they put on their plate first. Then move on to other foods, and for dessert, enjoy some fruit!
Add vegetables to your snacks. Snack time is another opportunity to eat more vegetables! Try packing vegetable snack lunches and cutting vegetables into fun shapes with cookie cutters to make them more fun for kids. Dinosaurs can be carved from cucumbers, and stars can be made from sweet peppers. There are quite a few healthy snack options for kids, and fruit is another great way to fill their snacks with vitamins and nutrients.
Vegetable breakfast. Breakfast is not necessarily just cereal. Fruits and vegetables also make a great breakfast. Consider serving vegetables for breakfast, such as toast with warm mashed avocados and tomatoes.
Get your child interested. Children are often reluctant to eat new foods because they think everything unfamiliar is strange. Teach your picky eaters to see new foods as part of an exciting adventure, and let the kids have some fun at the table as they explore the look and taste of new vegetables and fruits. Encourage curiosity!
Tell children where food comes from. Often, when children learn about where food comes from and how to grow and prepare food, they become more interested and excited. Visiting farms and farmers’ markets where you can buy local produce and allow children to take part in the gathering and preparation of food will increase the likelihood that they will want to eat vegetables.
Don’t be fooled by fake vegetables. Chips and crackers are often colored, artificially flavored, and labeled as healthy snacks with added vegetables, but they actually lack nutritional and health benefits, and they often misinform children about the color, taste, and texture of vegetables.
Ask questions. Find out why your child doesn’t like certain foods. Problem in appearance, texture or taste? It may be enough to cut, mix or wipe something – and the problem is gone. Talking about food is a great idea, because sometimes when children learn how much effort you put into preparing food and how important each element of a dish is for their body, they are more likely to eat even what they do not like.
It is never too early or too late to teach children about healthy eating and improve their nutritional habits. For best results, you can also consult a nutritionist with your doctor.
Eat vegetables with the whole family and be healthy!