How to Sneak Veggies into Your Child's Plate

Vegetables are chock-full of great stuff – vitamins, minerals and fiber. Still, to children, they’re often the enemy. Cucumbers ,Spinach/Palak , tomatoes can leave kids sitting at the table with arms folded across chests, glaring at all that nutrition with a “you’ve got to be kidding” expression. You really can’t blame them..

“They don’t want to eat things that look funny, so it can be a real challenge to get them to eat anything new...

So how do you get your kids to eat their vegetables?

Top Five suggestions include dipping, disguising and dramatizing.

§ Disguise it in other food.

Slip vegetables into soup, fruits in icecreams /Kheer. Kids’ mouths might be watering for that juicy chicken or any other favorite food , disguise healthy veggies in something they love to eat .

§ Turn eating veggies into a fun, dramatic game.

“When our oldest son was just a few years old, we started playing ‘BAHUBALI/HULK GAME’ with him,” . “We’d challenge him by saying, ‘You’re a giant! Can you eat that little-bitty [carrots] tree there?’ or ‘You’re a great big giant! Can you eat that whole green ball?’ [Palak] or ‘that tiny orange [carrot]?’ It worked, and they learned to like eating vegetables!”

§ Involve kids in menu planning.

“Let us plan our menus once a week, and allow our kids to have a voice,” . “Let's sit down as a family and Mom, Dad and each of the kids gets to choose what they want for a meal – usually dinner – and everyone has to eat it. So if I pick something a little off the wall, like healthy pizza making, or sandwich , or Paratha , they’re going to eat it when it’s served because they know that on their day.

§ Allow them to refuse a food – but only one.

“We allow one ‘not-going-to-eat’ item per person,” “So they have to try new things.” If they truly dislike that food, they say, “OK, I’ll eat two bites” of it. They usually end up liking it.

§ Give them healthy choices.

When kids come home from school – or anytime they’re looking for a snack – have a selection of bite-size fruits and veggies cut up and waiting for them in a bowl.

“Even cheese and crackers are healthier than a bag of potato or corn chips or something with a lot of salt or sugar in it,”

Thanks,

Tripti Khanna( Msc. Nutrition)

www.swasthlife.com

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