Your child won’t eat veggies? Read this
- Womenscorner Desk
- June 18, 2020
We all know vegetables are healthy. And we all know children, our own included, who refuse to eat veggies. It can be very stressful to work on dietary changes with your child. There can be tears involved (yours and theirs), frustration, and wasted food.
There some things as a family that you can do to help increase vegetable consumption in your house. First off, role model the wanted behavior, in this case eating veggies, in front of your child. Make sure you have at least 5 servings of fruits or veggies a day. Have readily available veggies that are washed and cut up and place them where your child can see them. You can also make sure each meal and snack include a fruit or vegetable.
Brining your child to the grocery store and letting them help you prepare the food in the kitchen is shown to increase the quantity and numbers of veggies children will eat.
Nutritionist Ellyn Satter (ellynsatterinstitute.org) has great information about the “Division of Responsibility” for feeding and eating. Parents decide what foods are offered. Children then determine how much and whether to eat those foods. This means that once a meal is prepared and served, you do not demand your child to consume the meal given. You also do not prepare another meal. You place the meal in front of them and then proceed with your family’s mealtime.
Serve a very small portion of the non-preferred food. This can and should be pea or dice sized to start. Serve age appropriate portions and let your child ask for more, large portion sizes can be overwhelming. Sit your child in a supportive chair and provide them with age appropriate utensils. Offer favorite foods along with the new vegetable. Serve your child their meal on fun, colorful dishes you can find fun plates that you food decorates a face or sections make a path to a fun reward at the end.
Serve food with a dip or sauce. Prepare the vegetable in a variety of ways for example: roasted, baked, steamed, whole, shaved, spiralized, with a sauce or a sprinkle of cheese. DO not talk about how the food makes you grow, instead emphasize what that food does for your body, for example, orange foods help our eyes see at night.
