Get your child to eat Veggies

Vegetables may not be as tasty as meat dishes, but they are a core of your child’s diet. How do we go about making your little one eat them up? We give you tips on how to make it easier.

Getting your little ones to eat their vegetables is often times like pulling out a tooth. But knowing too well what these foods do to your body makes many a parent determined to get their children eat vegetables. So is there an easier way of going about it? Yes, with a little bit of ingenuity on your part you can get your child munching on…

  • Prepare the menu with your child; go shopping with your child and prepare food with him-he can wash. chop (if older) and stir. When he has made some decisions regarding what he is going to be eating. he will be keener on partaking it. You may get children’s cookbooks which often come in fun and interesting language and colour that is bound to engage your child. They also teach various cooking methods.
  • When baking cake a pie, you may puree and mince vegetable such as pumpkin, and add it into the mixture. Such can also be added onto burgers; or you may tuck in a lettuce leaf, a tomato slice or carrot curls into sandwiches.
  • Carrots can be mixed with spaghetti. Make fruit breads; it could be banana bread, pear bread or apple bread. Minced veggies can be part of a salad such as chicken salad. Add chopped veggies such as broccoli or extra carrots to soup.
  • Get your child interested in gardening. Your child planting spinach or cabbage in your kitchen garden will be enough to make him want to monitor them grow and eventually want to eat them.
  • According to nutritionists, most children need to actually see a new food four to five times before they try it. So keep introducing new veggies now and then. You may come up with a rule-that your child tastes’ everything on the plate, even if it is only once . You may start with the tastier food like tomatoes and corn. Kid’s taste buds need to be ‘trained’. Their taste buds are far more sensitive than adults and many kids have a very strong negative reaction to bitter flavors, making foods like spinach, brussels sprouts and asparagus really unpalatable.
  • Offer raw vegetables or salad to your child when he is hungriest. just before the main mean. You may present tomatoes and carrots, handy as a quick snack.
  • How you present food to your child goes a long way into ensuring that he eats it or not. Veggies arranged into the shape of a face should do the trick. You may punch holes into cucumber slices, with your young one helping you to do so.
  • Serve vegetables everyday to familiarise your child with them. Tomatoes are cheap and easily available, and can be served everyday. Stew, fry or steam them. As they say, variety is the spice of life.
  • Do not overcook the veggies. This way, you will be maintaining their taste. appearance and nutritional value.
  • Avoid eating in front of the television. Give the act focus and always eat at the dinner table. Your child will ensure he finishes his food before embarking on something else. Again eat as a family. Make it a point that your child observes you loving and eating a variety of nutritious foods. Say all the positive things about the food and also tell him the importance of nutritious foods. Seeing you eating nutritious foods, he may also feel like eating them. While at it, remember that you are the number one teacher and hence need to set a good example-eat your veggies too.

END: BL 26/12

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