It’s no secret that it can be notoriously challenging to get kids consistently eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, yet as they are growing daily, it is vital that they receive the nutrition they need.
The early years are the crucial time to establish life-long healthy eating habits, but when those stubborn munchkins downright refuse to eat the foods that their bodies need, what’s a parent to do?
Though it may not be easy, I firmly believe that even the most picky of eaters can willingly get on board. The older they are when you attempt to bring in healthy eating changes, the more challenging it will be, but with a little (or a lot) of patience, persistence, and determination, parents can see wonderful results and their kids can reap the benefits for a lifetime.
As the long-time health-conscious mom of a growing tween, I’ve picked up a whole bunch of helpful tricks and tips over the last 12 years that have worked really well for my family and I’m super excited to share them today.
In an effort not to overwhelm, I am splitting this topic into two posts with 6 tips each. Hopefully a few or more of these ideas will be successful for your family too.
- Get the kids involved. Bring them with you to the grocery store or farmers market to help pick out ingredients. Teach them how to select the freshest produce and then let them do it. At home, have them help you prep and cook the meal, allowing them to do as much as is age-appropriate for them. Sometimes making them part of the “creation” is enough motivation to try things they otherwise would reject without even taking a bite. Even if they still balk at that roasted broccoli they’ve just helped make, you are at least planting a seed in them and empowering them by making them part of the process.
- Find what healthy foods they like and always have those foods available. If your kid likes carrots and hummus, then make sure you always have carrots and hummus prepped and ready to grab in the fridge. If they prefer cooked veggies, then have two or more kinds included with the meal you serve every night. I learned a while back that my daughter will eat way more vegetables raw rather than cooked, so when preparing to steam or boil veggies I will leave a bunch out of the pot for her to enjoy raw.
- Serve the veggies first. Consider starting meals with a salad or raw veggies and dip. You can even make it sound fancy and more enticing by calling it “hors d'oeuvres” time! This will ensure that they get the veggies in before filling up on non-veggie options.
- Make fun snacks that also happen to be super healthy. Offer up exciting homemade things that feel like special treats such as fruit smoothies, kale chips (kale, oil, and salt, baked to crispy perfection), "ants on a log" (celery, peanut butter, and raisins), baked sweet potato fries, and guacamole. All of these can be so delicious and feel so much like “normal” food that they might not even realize that what they are eating is extremely nutritious.
- Provide dips. Sometimes all you need is a tasty dip to get the veggies down. Your kids might enjoy a lot more raw, and even cooked veggies if they can dip them in something yummy (but still healthy). It’s easy to make a homemade vegan ranch or balsamic dressing, for example. Other ideas include nut butters and cashew cheese sauce. My daughter loves a good carrot and peanut butter combo!
- Buffet-style it up! Part of the fun of getting meals from places like Chipotle, for example, is getting to choose from numerous options. My family loves “Buddha Bowl nights” where we prepare and lay out a variety of things on the counter like rice, beans, roasted chickpeas, several kinds of chopped veggies, chopped herbs, hummus, and dressing options. Then everybody selects what they want and makes their own bowls. I’m always amazed to see how many colors of the rainbow my daughter happily puts in her bowl.
I’ll stop here for today and will continue with the next 6 tips in my next post. I hope you can try an above idea or two in the meantime!
.svg)
.svg)
