Teaching Your Children To Eat Their Vegetables

As a parent, one of the responsibilities I have is to teach my children to eat healthily. Since children learn from a young age to see vegetables as friend or foe, how they are presented to them will largely shape kids' perceptions. Teaching children to love vegetables will have a tremendous impact on the type of eaters they become. Certainly, a pizza party from time to time is one thing, but allowing your child to eat pizza for every meal is another. While children's multi-vitamins are a great supplement to healthy eating, there are some elements of the "real deal" that just cannot be substituted. Veggies are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes. I try to make sure that a couple of the five fruits and/ or vegetables I serve my children each day are raw, since enzymes and vitamin C are damaged by heat. There was a time it was difficult for me to get my oldest daughter to eat her vegetables at dinnertime. Her doctor suggested I serve her food that looked more "simple." I had been trying to slip vegetables into stir fries while my daughter, apparently, preferred steamed broccoli with a little butter or cherry tomatoes. Other great snacks are sliced cucumber, green bell peppers, and baby carrots. Remember, salad dressing on the side is your friend. Another way I have tried to foster my children's love for fruits and veggies has been to encourage an attitude of experimentation, which is pretty easy to do if you expose your child to the produce aisle. Children may think broccoli looks like alien brains, but chances are that they will beg you to taste star fruit or show them how to crack a coconut. This is how my son discovered his peculiar love for radishes. The main thing is getting to know your child's preferences and accomodating them, within reason. Oftentimes, my children will become instantly famished the minute I start making dinner. This is an opportune time to firmly state, "It's an apple or wait." I try to offer them a couple of choices when possible, and while I am unwilling to make a different meal for every member of the family, I might ask, "Who wants zucchini and who wants yellow squash?" or, "Who wants green beans, and who wants salad?" And, my children feel as though they have a choice. (Also, I buy ready-to-eat salad, because it's always an available back-up in the event a picky eater decides avocados just became nasty.) Chances are, teaching your child to love vegetables will pay off in terms of better health and digestion, a better attitude, and fewer missed days of school. My kids may not thank me now, but they will likely get a kick out of asking me, "Would you prefer your peas mashed or whole, Mom?" in my elderly years.

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