Getting Kids Their Vegetables

August 8, 2016

As your child grows up, they start to develop their individual likes and dislikes. As their parent, you want them to express their individuality and to a degree you want to honor their likes and dislikes, but at what sacrifice to their healthy diet?

It’s almost inevitable: kids will wake up one day and decide they don’t like broccoli or carrots, even though they previously gobbled down these nutrient-rich vegetables with glee. Suddenly your amazingly healthy eater is now the world’s pickiest toddler who is throwing anything resembling a vegetable right to the floor. Here are five tricks to get your kid to eat vegetables (some without them even knowing they’re eating them!)

Mix Blended Veggies in Other Food

A smooth vegetable like zucchini works great as an additive in other foods. If you are good at baking, try making some muffins and call it dessert for your kids, and when they aren’t looking add some blended zucchini into the muffin batter. Your kids will be none the wiser and you will have one serving of vegetables into your kids’ bellies! Everyone wins!

Dip the Vegetables in Ketchup

It may seem silly, but by adding a small pile of ketchup to the plate for dipping this allows the kids to either mask the taste of the veggie or to have a bit more fun with eating them. It’s easy and accessible in most households. Just be careful the carrots don’t go flying after they’ve been dipped in ketchup…

Peer Pressure

Although this is a real problem in schools and in life in general, it can also be a successful tactic to getting a picky child to eat their vegetables. If you have more than one child, try to casually mention that Jerry is eating his vegetables so wonderfully, wouldn’t it be cool to be more like Jerry? Kids at a young age will want to mimic their older siblings. If you can get the Jerry in your house to peer pressure any younger kids into eating a mouthful of peas, then by all means go for it.

Bribery

Works some of the time, but not all of the time because kids become smarter with age. It’s also not a tactic that you will want to use often because then kids will always expect something in return for doing what they’re told. This is a “desperate times call for desperate measures” tactic only!

Smoothie

Fruits are typically easier to convince a child to eat than vegetables simply due to their natural sweetness. Blend a smoothie using tasty fruits you know your kids will love, but sneak in some spinach or some kale. Your kids will never know that it’s in there, aside from the green color, and then you will successfully have administered them a healthy dose of fruits and vegetables!

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