Five ways to Plants Fruit & Veg in your Child's Diet!
Article written by Christine Arulappen.
Most of us are aware of the health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables. Our article titled ‘Plant Fruit & Veg in your Child’s Diet’ will provide more information on this topic. The problem lies more in trying to convince our children to eat these foods, especially when they prefer chomping on French fries or Mars bars. Sometimes no matter how hard you try to convince your child to eat these nutrient packed foods they just keep refusing. What can be done? Well there are ways to get them to eating these foods, some without them even realising what they are doing! Here are 5 tips you could try.
Number 1 - Start early
Start early by offering your toddler a variety of fruit and vegetables. It helps if your little one sees you enjoying these foods also. Studies confirm that a child’s food preferences are largely influenced by the parent’s food intake.1 Therefore you may find the articles ‘No More Excuses - Eat your Vegetables! Part 1 and Part 2’ or ‘Invasion of the Vegetable’ very useful for increasing your own intake of these health promoting foods.
Number 2 - Get them involved
Allow your children to be involved in making some of the decisions about their meals by having them help with the shopping, menu selection and preparation of foods. Starting a vegetable garden is also a fun and educational activity for the kids. The good thing with getting children involved in growing their own fruit and vegetables is that they are often so proud of their produce that they will want to eat it.
Number 3 - Be creative
Make fruit and vegetables look interesting on your child's plate by varying the colours and shapes and don’t be afraid to experiment with less common fruit and vegetables available. You should also include a variety of raw as well as cooked vegetables. Vegetable sticks with avocado dip often make a good after school snack. You may want to have a look at our online recipes. The Spicy Guacamole Dip (without the added spices), Notatoes, Notato Croquettes or Cauliflower rice recipes are great for the kids. Using children’s cookbooks can also give you more inspiration.
Number 4 - Hide them
If all else fails, try disguising fruits and vegetables in other foods by pureeing, chopping or grating them into sauces, patties, casseroles, omelettes, banana bread, muffins or making pureed vegetable soups. The options are endless.
Number 5 - Persistence is the key to success
Even if you are struggling don’t give up! Research indicates most young children need to see a new food several times in a variety of settings before they will even try it, so persistence will certainly pay off in the long run.2
References
- Cathey, Mary and Gaylord, Nan, 2004. Picky Eating - A Toddler’s Approach to Mealtime. J Paediatric Nursing [Online] 30(2). Available at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/475189 [Accessed 29th May 2009].
- State government of Victoria, Australia, Department of Human services, 2007. Child Nutrition Toddler and Preschooler Nutrition [Online]. Available at http://www.health.vic.gov.au/nutrition/child_nutrition/toddler.htm [Accessed 29th May 2009].
Last updated 25 June 2009
