Your Kids Don’t Like Fruits And Veggies? Here’s How You Can Make Them More Appealing

It’s a well-known fact that parents have a tough time getting kids to eat vegetables and fruits. In a world where junk food is glorified, getting your little ones to eat healthily becomes quite a hassle. Cakes, sweets, chocolates, fizzy drinks, and cupcakes are a part of every kid’s diet. Add to that pizzas, burgers, fries, and you’ve got yourself a combination that is sure to lead to health complications in the future. If you want your kids to remain healthy and function at their optimum best, well-balanced and nutritious meals are necessary. And one of the most important food categories to start with healthy eating would probably be fruits and vegetables.

But as many parents would know well enough that your children might not take a fancy to fruits and vegetables at all.  If your kids don’t like them, it can be a herculean task to get them to eat them. We understand that, and today, we are here with some tips to help make fruits and vegetables more appealing to your kids. If that can encourage them to include it in their diet, half the battle is won. So, without further ado, let’s look at how you can incorporate fruits and vegetables in your kids’ diet without them making a fuss:

Why Are Fruits And Vegetables Good For Your Kids?

We know that fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of nutrition but do you know why? Perhaps it would help if you understood the benefits of these essential elements of the food chart so that you can explain them to your child.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals. They contain potassium, calcium, and iron, which are highly important for your kids’ growth and development. They also contain fiber which helps keep the digestive system healthy (1

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Fruits and veggies are low in fat (mostly), high in water content, and have generous amounts of carbohydrates and antioxidants. Some fruits like avocados have high-fat content, but these monounsaturated fats are highly beneficial and healthy. So, your kids can have them without worrying too much (2).

How Much Should My Child Have?

Ideally, you should introduce your kids to simple fruits and vegetables at around six months of age. Start simple and then add variety. By the time your kid is one year old, the quantity should increase. A two-year-old typically should have about two and a half servings of vegetables and one serving of fruit each day. By the time they are nine years old, their intake of fruits and vegetables should be a lot more — around five servings of vegetables and two serves of fruits daily (3). If your child refuses to eat their fruits and veggies, don’t give up. Keep trying and encourage them to eat different fruits and vegetables. It might be difficult initially, but with some patience and perseverance, you will emerge successful!

Fussy Kid Tips For Parents

Most parents struggle with feeding their children fruits and vegetables. If you are one of the few lucky ones whose kids don’t fuss about eating their nutritious food, tell us, how does it feel to be God’s favorite? While it can be frustrating when your kids refuse to listen to you, we’ve listed a few tips that you can try to make your child eat their fruits and vegetables:

• Let your kids snack on fruits and vegetables. It would help to keep fruits washed, cut, and in plain sight in the refrigerator.

• Make salads a regular part of your kid’s diet. Order salads along with other meals when you go out to eat at restaurants. It gives kids the impression that salads are a regular part of your meal, rather than being treated as a “diet”.

• Try out vegetarian recipes instead of sticking to only meat. Add leafy green vegetables or yellow vegetables for vitamin A. You could use broccoli, spinach, carrots, bell peppers, etc.

• Include vitamin C-rich foods in the diet — oranges, melons, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, grapefruit, etc., are great options to add to your daily diet.

• Add a fruit or vegetable as part of every meal or snack. For example, you could add one banana to the morning cereal, a small salad to lunch, and replace mayo with vegetable dip. You could add cut veggies and homemade dip as an afterschool snack. Add one or two vegetables to the dinner menu too.

• Avoid buying high-caloric foods like chips, biscuits, candy bars, and cookies. If they are not in sight, it’s less likely that your kids will ask for these treats.

• Most importantly, practice what you preach. Eat more fruits and vegetables yourself, so your kids can watch and learn from you.

• Let your kid take part in the process. Take them out to the market to pick up the vegetables and fruits. When you cook, let them also do small chores like cutting the vegetables. This will help them appreciate the value of the food and might get them interested in eating too.

• Kids usually love desserts more than fruits and veggies. So if you include the fruits and veggies in desserts chances are that your kid won’t be needing the push to eat it. Add chunks of fruits or the veggies in some yogurt and prepare a delicious dessert that will leave your kid wanting more.

• If your kid dislikes a particular fruit or vegetable, try making them some other. There are a whole bunch of fruits and veggies out of which your child might end up liking some. It’s for you to have enough trial and errors to know which ones.

It’s not easy to include a kid-friendly diet rich in fruits and vegetables. But if you try to make things interesting and persevere, things might just start to take shape. And who knows? In no time, your kids might even start to enjoy their servings of fruits and vegetables. Sounds like a dream, right? We think so too! Let us know in the comments below if these techniques worked with your kids!

References

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Bency Sebastian

Writer, dreamer and a moon child. Bency believes that music, words, and little precious moments of life add color to a world that is black and white..

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