Winning the vegetable war with your kids
One of the most common conversations that I have with mums about their kids eating habits is that Linda’s kids down the road are chugging down kale smoothies for breakfast and veggie stir-fry dinners on the daily...and their child refuses to eat a vegetable!
If you are not like Linda, you are not alone as it is reported that more than 99% of all children do not eat the recommended amount of 5 serves of vegetables per day.
But I get it, as parents, it is in our DNA as nurturers to over think, over complicate and worry about everything. So it’s pretty common when parents feel frustrated and concerned that despite their every effort, their dinner time is a common battle ground for a food war between vegetable and child...
When it comes to feeding our children, we have had to deal with pressure (and possibly guilt) right from giving birth. There is pressure to constantly make decisions around breast feeding vs formula, when to start solids, home made puree vs store bought. There is expectations to create perfectly home-made lunch boxes styled with love and Nigella Lawson- style dinners.
We are all swimming in the same sea of socio-cultural food and nutrition messaging where the simple act of eating has become super complicated and confusing.
While I am going to discuss healthy eating and healthy tips and actions steps for you and your family, I am also going to ask you to honour and be kind to yourselves for doing your very best, as you are already doing an amazing job.
My first bit of advice is don’t stress. Your child will very likely grow up eating a variety of vegetables …eventually! This can happen to the best of us - I’m a nutritionist and my son refused to eat a broad variety of vegetables until he was 18! And now he eats them all…well, almost.
So let’s go back to basics with some strategies to encourage your child to eat vegetables. It’s about helping establish some healthy life-long eating patterns – this is where persistence pays off. Even small wins will make a difference, and remember, not every child (or adult) will ever necessarily like the same vegetables!
Kids go through some weird and wacky stages with food. They can be very testing when it comes to eating vegetables and are often suspicious of new foods and flavours. Introducing new foods to children is really about exploration and experience. For them it’s a sensory explosion - they are experiencing new flavours, textures, tastes, smells. The old saying ‘we eat with our eyes’ plays a big factor as they will often judge a food on what it looks like.
So how do we get kids excited about eating vegetables?
How can we make food fun, interactive and appealing? Research has shown that kids are more willing to explore tasting different foods when we get kids more involved in the decision making and the cooking process. Read my post on how to ‘Explore the world of vegetables together with a rainbow vegetable chart’ and remember…Keep trying and make it fun.
I’ve got many other tips and hints. Contact me to find effective ways to win the veggie war.
Romy Bursztyn
An Integrative Nutritionist, Health & Wellness Coach, Nutrition Educator, freestyle cook and home kitchen garden hobbyist.