The only vegetables six-year-old Heather eats are French fries and ketchup-and that's using the term "vegetable" loosely. What's alarming is that she's not alone. Today over 60 percent of children ages two to nine don't consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
Children require proper nourishment to be healthy-including eating vegetables. Unfortunately, faux food (fast food and junk food) have replaced whole food. Public health officials warn that unless there is a change in the way our children eat, health problems are sure to plague them. Increasing at alarming rates are heart disease, cancer, and Type 2 diabetes. In addition, childhood obesity has more than tippled over the last forty years.
Even the most resistant child can learn to love healthy foods. Kids discover that whole foods (including veggies) are yummy when you engage all their senses. By making a few simple changes, you can teach your child to love veggies!
1. Stock Healthful Foods
It'll be difficult to convince your picky eater to eat nutritious foods, if sugar, white flour, and trans fat are common ingredients found in your kitchen. To effectively encourage children to eat whole foods, whole foods must be readily available. Read labels! When you purchase crackers, chips, and cookies, look for items made from whole grains and without hydrogenated oils (trans fat). Even better is to replace processed snack items with nuts, fruit and veggies slices. Obviously, you must control your kid's snacking. A child who has eaten less than two hours before a meal will not eagerly eat a food predetermined to be "yucky!"
2. Involve All Senses
A common misconception is that a veggie is rejected because of its taste. But according to current research, dislike of various foods most often results from the texture, smell, or even the color of what is to be eaten. Eating vegetables doesn't usually come naturally: it's a learning process. Learning involves all the senses. Discuss the attributes of various foods with your child. Pick up and feel its texture. What is the aroma? How does it feel in the mouth? What color is it?
3. Make It Fun
Involve your child with grocery shopping and meal preparation. Have your toddler hold an item from the produce department while you're in the store. Discuss the value of the foods you're purchasing with your child. Give your youngster a job to do such as reading the nutrition facts on labels (i.e.: look for the sugar content) and placing items in your cart. Encourage your kid to pick one item from the produce department, which he has never tasted. Then prepare and eat it together.
4. Make Mealtime a Happy Family Time
The table should be a stress-free zone. It's vital that both dad and mom keep the conversation around the table happy. A good way to transition from a hectic day is to begin the meal by thanking God for what he has done. Always discuss how wonderful the food smells and tastes. Take every opportunity during the meal to educate your child about healthful foods.
5. Be Positive
All family members (including older siblings or even Daddy) may make only affirmative comments about the food at the table. Negative remarks cement the idea that some food tastes bad. Phrases such as "I don't like that" "It's disgusting" and "It's yucky" are forbidden. In addition, praise for eating whole foods and vegetables is vital for success.
6. Employ Stealth Health
Stealth health is changing from an inferior brand of bread to a nutritionally packed one. It's adding spinach to casseroles and soups. It's making pancakes with whole-wheat flour and topping with applesauce or peanut butter. Use brown rice in casseroles and slip flax seed oil and barely green into a breakfast fruit smoothie. Other times, it's making a healthful puréed vegetable soup for the vegetable-challenged child.
7. Don't Give Up
Be patient. Food, which your child has previously refused, most likely will be sampled between ten and twenty times before acceptance. Don't rush the process. Explore all the food's attributes with your child. Give your youngster time to learn how the food feels and smells. Tiny bites of formerly rejected foods are steps in the right direction.
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