Almost all kids refuse to eat vegetables at one stage or another, but there are ways to convince your child to eat their carrots, peas, and greens. Check out these simple tips which promote a healthy relationship with food, rather than leaving you to do battle with your kids at the dinner table.
Get Your Kids Involved
Multiple studies have shown that kids are more willing to try foods that they have helped to make. Whether you ask your child to get the cucumbers out of the fridge so you can make a salad, teach your tween how to wilt spinach or ask a more experienced cook to help slice onions, getting your child involved at any stage of the cooking process can take some of the fear factor around vegetables away and convince them to eat a dish that’s at least partly of their own making.
Do Some Taste Testing
Rather than forcing your kids to eat vegetables or foods that they simply don’t like, build up a picture of your family’s preferences with a tasting menu. Get everyone around the table, and spend time together tasting small portions of foods such as olives, dates, cheeses, fresh and cooked vegetables, fish, and meats. Make sure there’s no shame attached if someone doesn’t like one (or more) of the foods, and make notes of the more popular flavors. That way, you can incorporate fruits and vegetables that were rated highly by your family into more meals – and if your kid refuses to taste it, remind them that they’ve already tasted these flavors on your tasting menu.
Grow Some Vegetables
Just as kids are more keen to eat food that they have made, they will definitely try some lettuce leaves or cucumber if you’ve grown it in your garden together. No garden? No problem, salad leaves, cucumbers, peppers, and even tomatoes can be grown in pots on a balcony or even in a sunny spot inside. Again, letting your child observe the growing process will make vegetables seem less alien and more appetizing.