How to Get the Kids to Eat More Veggies
Many people ask me “how do you get your kids to eat so healthy?” Well, it started when they were very young. And they pretty much had no choice.
“Open or I get the spoon!”
I think the first couple things they were fed were avocados, peas, and pureed vegetables, not fruit and definitely not grains.
“You don’t have to like it but you will try it! Open, open, open…OPEN!! I’m getting the spoon.” “Do I need to use the spoon or are you trying it? Good job!”
“Just one more bite and you can have dessert! OK just one more…Good job…almost done, just one more…just one more”
Distraction of what they are having for dessert and just one more bite! Before long they will actually get used to the taste of what you keep giving them. Too many parents give up way to quickly. I do understand that we all have preferences but they are born out of our experience and culture. Why do thai children eat the way they do, Latin families have preferences, French children will eat anything… Too many use the excuse that they don’t like it but they’ve never even tried it most often. The easy way out is to just give them chicken fingers and french fries but no color, no nutrition and then you end up with hyper active and unhappy, unhealthy little ones.
Fruits and vegetables are a staple in my cooking because I want to feel good and for me food is fuel. Don’t get me wrong I’ve never met a french fry I didn’t like but I also believe in balance.
So instead of making grains or meat the main part of a meal, I spotlight vegetables most of the time. I always offer fruits and vegetables as the first choice for snacks and leave fruit out on the counter for them to eat. One of the keys in keeping the kids interested in eating fruits and veggies is to keep offering them. I know I cut red peppers at least 10 times before my son starting grabbing it out of the fridge and eating it like an apple. Children need to be offered something 10 to 20 times before you make the assumption that they don’t like it. I know even as an adult, I am eating foods that when I was a child I didn’t want to touch just because it looked weird.
In their lunchbox daily is fresh fruits and veggies, all raw. They are so accustomed to being served raw or lightly steamed vegetables that when we go out to eat dinner we all have a salad first, including the 3 year old. They have had every type of dressing you can imagine but absolutely eat vegetables plain. If you make it colorful and fun they will eat what you put it in front of them, if they are served it on a regular basis. I have noticed even when I’m not feeling like eating super healthy if I make a plate of colorful fruits and veggies and chop them and leave them on the counter, everyone picks at it and we all eat it.
You have to start them young and they need to watch you eat what you want them to consume. Cook them in a way that makes them appealing and serve them raw many many times and don’t give up. We regularly have tomatoes or cucumbers on the side of the plate at dinner, steamed veggies almost nightly and lots of salads for meals.
I crowd whatever I’m making with veggies…carrots, onions, peppers, shredded zucchini and mushrooms in spaghetti or lasagna with kale, spinach, broccoli, as much as I can stuff in there. When I make them pizza, it is whole wheat with spinach, peppers, mushrooms, onions, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, artichokes, etc. Of course they would probably rather have plain cheese or pepperoni but that’s not what we eat most of the time. There is no choice. If they don’t want to eat it, they don’t eat dinner and if they ask for food later, they get offered the same plate they had for dinner. It only takes a couple times for them to realize who is in charge.
They are so accustomed to vegetables being the star of our meals, that they love to eat those fresh foods. I mean who wants to eat a bag of puffed tasteless air when you can have a mouth watering fresh tomato or watermelon for a snack?
“Mommy you’re the best cooker ever” As they gobble spicy marinated salmon, baked sweet potatoes and steamed asparagus. If they are hungry and there is nothing else to eat, they will eat what you serve. If one of mine starts crying because they don’t want to eat what I’ve made, they are sent to their room. They can come back in the kitchen when they are done crying. It’s usually only a couple minutes before they are back where the action is. Stand your ground and raise health conscious children. We talk to them about what is healthy and if you eat too much bread every day, you will start looking like a puffy piece of bread and be tired. Green veggies make you strong like hulk and spider man. My little girl knows that vegetables give you long pretty hair….Whatever it takes to educate them on why we eat what we do.
If you have the space, plant a garden. Get children involved from the beginning and make a daily habit of checking on the garden, picking the produce and having the children help clean and prepare the food. Giving them things to help with will make them more apt to feel a sense of pride in eating the final product. We have planted an herb garden together and little tomatoes and they love to help me pick and wash our little garden that they helped create.
I also have them chop and cook with me as much as possible, even if it is just assembling the food or stirring, putting it on the plate and even helping with the dishes. I believe children need to learn that dinner is a family affair from the beginning to the end. The single most important thing that I can suggest is to lead by example. If you eat healthy, your kids will likely to do the same.
When all else fails, hold them down, stuff the red pepper in their mouth and tell them to chew or face the consequences! Hey and a little dessert bribery never hurt either, as long as it’s healthy too! The reward system always works for my kids. Just don’t tell them that a fresh peach isn’t really dessert, it’s fruit. Ok maybe some coconut milk ice cream will get them woof down the collard greens. Hey, whatever it takes!
Lead by example, eat well and they will too,
