Even many of us who love vegetables as adults probably shied away from them as kids. Let’s face it, vegetables are not usually an easy sell! Luckily, we have some tips that are sure to help.
Full Question: “My three year old refuses to eat any vegetables. How can I get him to eat healthy?”
Even many of us who love vegetables as adults probably shied away from them as kids. Let’s face it, vegetables are not usually an easy sell! Hopefully some of these ideas will help:
- Hide vegetables in other food items. Puree vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots or spinach and include them in pasta sauce, smoothies, soups, lasagna, chili’s, turkey burgers, casseroles, even carrot or zucchini muffins, etc.
- Enlist their help. Take your child to a local farmer’s market and have him/her help you shop for produce. You could also invite your child to help you prepare the vegetables for dinner (even just sprinkling with garlic powder). Once they’ve helped to prepare it, they’re more likely to want to try it.
- Make vegetables fun. Give the vegetables fun or funny names or make up a story about the vegetable “characters.” You could even turn eating vegetables into a where they have to try a new vegetable each week to win a prize.
- Make vegetable fun to eat by serving items like ants on a log (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) or offer veggie with a dip, like low-fat ranch dressing.
- Prepare veggies in many different ways. Serve stir-fried vegetables like bell peppers, zucchini and onions or try grilled mushrooms or asparagus.
- Teach your children about vegetables. Plant some vegetables in your yard or garden and let your kids take care of them. Also make sure to talk about how eating vegetables will help to make you grow big, strong and stay healthy.
- Be an example to your kids by ordering and eating veggies yourself. Make sure to tell them how delicious they are.
- Continue to serve even small portions of vegetables on your child’s plate. Research shows that repeated exposure increases the likelihood they’ll try the new food item!