Keep Vegetables in Plain Sight
Parents who Eat Vegetables Will Raise Children to Eat Veggies, too
Feb 5, 2009
Children commonly leave vegetables untouched on their plates, causing undue frustration for well intentioned parents who want them to eat healthy. One solution comes from the popular book, "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld who suggests that parents sneak the vegetables into kids by disguising them in cooked dishes.
Kids Tend to Eat What They See Their Parents Eat
While your kids refusal to eat what's served to them may exhaust your patience and frustrate your inner mothering, rest assured, deception will not foster or instill lifelong good healthy eating habits, reports Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., a professor at St. Louis University. She suggests offering fruit for snacks and vegetables as part of the meal to foster healthy eating habits.
Vegetables can easily be incorporated into every day meals, such as adding broccoli and peppers to pasta, or putting tomato slices in a grilled (reduced fat) cheese sandwich. Draw the line at adding spinach to “Blueberry Bars”, or broccoli and carrots into the brownie batter, as Ms. Seinfeld recommends. No adult would find these desserts appealing, so spare your children.
Strategies for the Picky Eater
Children follow by example; your example. So down to a family meal and eat your vegetables as your kids look on. Put the same vegetable on their plates, and tell them what it is. and then back off. By modeling positive eating habits, you are presenting the outcome you desire and is likely to be emulated, according to Dr. Haire-Joshu who researched this interaction with pre-schoolers
When you realize that most children must be introduced to a new food 8 to 10 times before they will accept it, you may be able to set more realistic expectations for your children and yourself. Simply reintroduce new vegetables regularly. Eventually, most children will try the vegetable. They’ll like some vegetables and not others, just like adults. However, when they watch you enjoy enjoying your vegetables, they’re more likely to grow into vegetable-eating adults, too.
Instilling Good Eating Habits
Simply put, if they are exposed to veggies in a natural setting, they will grow into informed adults who are prepared to make wise food decisions. Your job is to provide the opportunities for your children to try different vegetables and other new foods. Here are a few ways you increase your success:
- Give toddlers bite-sized portions.
- Make sure the vegetables are appealing --crisp, crunchy, slightly steamed (provided their teeth are in) and brightly colored
- Respect that children do not like different foods to touch on the plate; by giving new foods a space of their own, they will be more inviting and less intrusive.
- Cycle a few different, seasonal foods at a time to permit a gradual acceptance.
Odds are good that your children will eat vegetables--maybe only a little and only sometimes, but by making vegetables an expected part of the meal, instead of chips or fries. you're instilling the right message. For more ways to foster positive eating habits, go to Fruits And Veggies Matter More.
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