As a parent, it can definitely be a challenge at times to ensure your children eat enough vegetables. They seem to have a natural aversion to veggies a lot of the time, and this can make mealtimes stressful.
Parents just want to give their children a healthy diet, but how can this be done when the child in question refuses all vegetables?
There are some solutions, and it might even be easier than you think. Read on to find out more.
Start Early
Although this is not going to be overly helpful to those who are currently struggling to get their children to eat enough vegetables in their diet, it will be a useful piece of advice for those just starting out and are only just beginning to give their children solid food.
The key is to start early when it comes to giving your children vegetables. If they have always had them and they have been a part of their diet since the moment they were weaned, it’s going to be a lot easier to encourage them to keep eating these particular ingredients as they get older. They will be used to the taste, if not the texture, of vegetables, so it won’t suddenly be a shock they don’t like.
Make Vegetables Fun
Another way to ensure your children eat more vegetables and don’t have any issues in this regard is to make vegetables fun. You could cut them into interesting shapes, for example, and then use those shapes to make patterns on your child’s plate. Of course, you don’t want to give your children the idea that playing with their food is okay, but if this particular idea works, then it could be worth bending the rules once in a while.
If your child sees that vegetables are nothing to be afraid of, they’ll be happier to eat them or even try new ones that they might not otherwise have looked twice at if it was presented in the standard way.
Be Creative
Following on from the above idea, if you can use vegetables differently and not just place them on a plate as a side element to a main dish, you might have more luck in encouraging your children to eat them.
You could follow an easy 5 minute Mexican coleslaw recipe that contains lots of vegetables. Giving that to your child as a side is much more interesting than the vegetables in their original form. You can turn vegetables into fries or chips, or you can even give your child a smoothie.
It’s best not to disguise the fact that you’re serving vegetables, as this won’t help your child learn good eating habits, but presenting them differently so they are more interesting might be a great idea to try.
Lead By Example
Finally, as with most things when it comes to parenting, you need to lead by example. If you serve your child vegetables and expect them to eat them, you need to eat the same vegetables and show your child that you are doing so.
This is why eating together is a good idea for families, as children will be able to pick up good habits from their parents and hopefully continue those habits into adulthood.
