We’ve sharing healthy eating tips for your kids!
How do you feel about vegetables? Do you love them and can’t get enough? Do you eat them because you know it is healthier to eat them than not? Would you rather have them smothered in dip or plain? No matter how much you like (or dislike) vegetables, odds are that you want your kids eating healthy and part of that is eating lots of vegetables.
Depending on what and where you read, it is recommended to eat between 4 and 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day in as many colors as you can find. We’ve sharing healthy eating tips for your kids!
Eating Tip #1: Monkey See, Monkey Do
The first way our children learn is by copying what the people around them do. If they see you eating all kinds of vegetables, they are going to want to try it (How many times have your kids asked you to drink from your drink?) That doesn’t mean they will like it. In fact, the odds are that they won’t. Their taste buds are sensitive and geared for sweetness. We humans learn to like things over time. This brings us to…
Eating Tip #2: If, at first, you don’t succeed, try try again.
It can take between 10 tries before a person will accept a new flavor. Even more, before they start to like it! So keep offering them the vegetables; all different kinds. The more they see them, smell them and taste them, the more they will start to like them! This brings us to…
Eating Tip #3: Try them in lots of ways (including with butter or cheese!)
If the fight over even trying the vegetables is getting way out of hand, don’t be afraid to mix it up! Steamed vegetables aren’t the only way. Try roasting them tossed in some familiar flavors (whatever is their favorite). Serve them with a dip! Sautee them with bacon and throw some parmesan on top! Explore the flavor palette! You could try this pizza recipe (from Kitchen Stories) or fun spinach balls (from The Lean Green Bean. This brings us to...
Eating Tip #4: Let them Help!!
The more we get our kids involved in the food-making process from picking out produce to choosing the menu, the more invested they become! When you are at the grocery store, take the opportunity to let them pick ripe tomatoes or look for bad spots in the lettuce. Ask them to pick their favorite salad toppings (from Whole Kids Foundation) or which new vegetable they’d like to try! Then, when you get home, let them wash the vegetables or even help peel or cut them if they are old enough. You may find they want to eat the ones they got to help with come suppertime. This brings us to…
Eating Tip #5: Remember your Job
It is our job as parents to provide a variety of healthy food. If we keep offering healthy things for them to eat, they will start to eat them. Forcing them or even giving rewards for eating healthy sends the wrong signal about why we need to eat healthily. It can backfire and could lead to bad habits once they are old enough to choose for themselves. If they won’t eat something, ask them to try. Some people call it the “No Thank You bite.” This allows them a choice and gets one more taste into their brain.
In the end, the goal is to get our kids eating healthy. While you are trying all these tips, you can still sneak in vegetables in some fun ways. Puree them into this great smoothie (from Fraiche) and serve it up in our fun tumbler. Add them to sauces and soups! Then, they will be trying them without even knowing it. Since this doesn’t really teach them to love eating vegetables, we wanted to share the idea at the end as a stop gap. Of course, it doesn’t reduce their benefits so enjoy however you’d like!!