How to get kids to eat more veggies
I recently read a fantastic book called “French Children Don’t Throw Food” by Pamela Druckerman, which I highly recommend if you have small kids or are planning to have kids. It details the life of Druckerman, an American bringing up her children while living in France & is a fantastic read.
One interesting point Druckerman discusses is why it is children in France are happy to eat a wide range of veggies (& often exotic veggies) compared to anglophone kids (such as Americans, English and Aussie kids) who live primarily on a mono diet of white foods such as potato gems and sugary cereals. To emphasise this point further, i saw a 15 year old boy not long ago as a patient who didn’t even know what sweet potato was. Unsurprisingly, his diet consisted of processed and refined sugars in the form of several bowls of Nutri-grain, jam sandwiches and cups of Milo. His primary concern (or rather his mothers) was his acne.
As a practitioner who sees primarily mothers it is all to common for me to hear about their fussy eating kids, but interestingly the majority of these kids are only ‘fussy’ and ‘picky’ when it comes to fruit and veggies, not chocolate, ice cream, packets of chips or milo bars! Many children do not meet the 5 veggies and 2 fruits minimum as set out by the government (and note this is a MINIMUM). As a collegue of mine says “5 veggies should just be in the entree!”. Inadequate intake of fruit and veggies in is a big problem, i don’t need to go into the ‘whys’ as we all know how vital fruit and veggies are for our health and well-being, so how can we get our kids to eat more? Here’s my advice for preschool age kids (older kids have more engrained habits and will be harder, but not impossible to change):
1. First of all why not promote self sufficiency as well as increased veggie eating by getting the kids to grow their own produce. Not only is growing their own produce fun and utterly rewarding, researchers from Saint Louis University observed that preschool children who were served homegrown fruits and vegetables the majority of the time were more than double as likely to eat five servings a day than those who rarely or never ate homegrown produce.
Additionally, according to the kids parents, preschoolers who grew up consuming fresh produce from their own gardens also preferred the taste of fruits and vegetables to other foods. Apparently when children are involved in cooking and planting and looking after their own food they form a more positive relationship with it, not surprising really. If you live in a unit there are plenty of books available at the library that may give you ideas or search online for how to grow veggies and fruit in really small spaces.
2. As parents of young children we ultimately determine what is put in our children’s mouths. Whilst i agree that peer pressure and media may influence what kids do or don’t eat, it is parents who pay and cook for the food, and therefore have the most control. First of all, acknowledge that you are an example to your kids. Whilst they are very young (preschool), if you do something, they will most likely follow suit. I can attest to this. I puree fruit and veggies for my little one & notice she will eat much more if i have one spoon first and then give her one.
3. What if your child refuses certain vegetables? No one is saying you need force feed veggies down your child’s throat, however research shows that early repeated exposure to different types of foods is needed, sometimes about 15 times before you can really determine if your child dislikes a food. Persistence is the key (as well as lots of patience on your part)
4. Within reason, let the kids choose which fruit and veggies they are going to eat. Research has also shown that giving your child a choice as to which veggies they want to eat results in your child actually eating them. Have a range of fruits and veggies available and give your child the task of choosing which ones they will have. Getting your child to help with the menu planning and preparing of veggies (e.g. washing the veggies, peeling the potatoes) also increases the chances of your child eating and enjoying the meal more as they have helped to create it.
5. Make veggies look and taste attractive-This is obvious but often gets forgotten. Soggy broccoli and ‘boiled to the max’ carrots wouldn’t tantalize your taste buds or appeal visually, so why would your child want them? Vary your vegetables and fruit, try new recipes, eat in season and make veggies part of a meal rather than a boring side dish e.g. mushrooms sliced through pasta are more appeal then mushrooms sitting forlornly on the side of the plate. Another example is oven roasted pumpkin on top of home-made pizza rather than boiled pumpkin dumped on the side of the plate.
6. Last by no means least avoid excessive snacks close to dinner time. As Druckerman points out, if a child is allowed to eat muesli bars, packets of chips, popcorn and other snack foods around 4pm or later they will automatically not be hungry for dinner. Additionally, if your child refuses to eat their dinner, then they need to forfeit dessert or any after dinner treats as if they are not hungry enough to eat dinner then they certainly don’t need anything else. Above all one of the key points Druckerman emphasises is that we shouldn’t let ours kids manipulate us, as let’s face it they can be very persuasive when it comes to getting out of eating foods they don’t want. Ultimately, children, just like us, need to eat a wide range of fruit and and veggies to ensure their over all health and well-being.
Lisa Costa Bir – Naturopathic nutritionist, Ayurvedic lifestyle consultant, Lecturer & Food Coach web content coordinator
B App Sc. Naturopathy, Grad Dip. Naturopathy
Lisa maintains a practice in South Sydney and lectures at Endeavour College of Natural Therapies.
Connect with her on facebook under ‘Lisa Costa Bir Naturopath’ or check out her site at www.lisacostabirnaturopath.com.au
<– ~~ For healthy and tasty meal ideas for children, check out ‘Supercharged Food for Kids’ by Lee Holmes ~~
