Helping Your Children Learn To Love Veggies: Tips For Picky Eaters- Guest Post
Thisweek we are back with another fantastic guest post from one of our favoriteguest writers, Kevin Wells of SeniorDiabetic. Raising a child who is a picky eater can be challenging especiallywhen it comes to creating a healthy eating lifestyle in your home as well asminimize the prep time required by cooking one meal option for the wholefamily. In this post Kevin discusses some great tips to help incorporatehealthy eating into the lifestyle of your child (or adult child) who is a pickyeater.
Formany parents, finding a way to get little ones to eat healthy can be a dailychallenge. Even the kids who aren’t picky sometimes have trouble getting allthe nutrients they need from their food, making it necessary to supplement withchewable vitamins. It’s important to help your child discover a love of healthyfoods at a young age, as this can help them form better habits as they growolder and can keep them strong as their bodies change and mature.
Buthow do you start? One of the easiest ways to help kids love healthy foods is tosimply expose them to lots of different choices very early on. Give them a rainbow of options on their plate at each meal, andencourage them to try new things often. Because raw veggies are often notappealing to little ones, you might serve dip or hummus with them. For very young kids, youcan also make mealtimes fun by arranging the foods in a creative way on theplate or encouraging your child to do so on his own.
Keepreading for some great tips on how to help your little ones eat healthy.
Start a garden
Onegreat way to help your kids learn to love veggies is to grow a garden and allowthem to be involved. Working outside and taking care ofliving plants can help kids learn responsibility and will help them understand theimportance of healthy eating, especially if you have a conversation about whatrole vegetables play in keeping our bodies in good shape. If you don’t have alot of backyard space, don’t fret; there are lots of ways you can create abeautiful garden in front of your home without making the veggies obvious. Tryplanting rainbow chard, kale, eggplant, and peppers, all of which have lovelyblooms that will fascinate your little ones.
Get creative
Justabout every child likes to be creative; hand him a crayon and a piece of paper,and he’ll likely draw immediately, even at a very young age. Food can beinspiring, too, and if you encourage your child to have fun with it, he may bemore inclined to try new things. Try arranging his meal on the plate in a creativeway; broccoli trees and radish flowers, cheese stars, and fish-shapedsandwiches are fun and easy to make, especially with the help of cookiecutters. You can also use different plates and utensils to help your little one get intoit.
Get them involved
Manykids love to get creative in the kitchen; it makes them feel useful andgrown-up, and it’s a great way to bond with your little ones. Allowingthem to get involved when it’s time to make dinner might make the process alittle longer (and messier), but it’s well worth it if it will help them seethe importance of the foods we eat and how they keep us healthy. Look upkid-friendly recipes by age range, make sure they only work withcooking utensils designed for children, and always keep safety in mind in the kitchen.
Be a role model
Oneof the most important things to keep in mind when you’re trying to get yourkids to eat healthy is to be a good role model. That means showing them thatyou appreciate your veggies and filling your plate with them at mealtimes. Youcan also start a conversation about healthy eating and what thatmeans, including the difference between healthful choices and “dieting,”especially when it comes to kids who are middle school and high school age.This is a time when many kids start to become body-conscious and receiveconflicting messages about their appearance.
Helpingyour child discover a love of veggies can be a long process, so try to bepatient as you and your kids navigate it together. Some kids may try severalnew foods before finding one or two they like, so keep offering a variety ofhealthy items; their tastes may change over time.
I hope you enjoyed these tips from our guestblogger and would love to hear your feedback or any other tips you have foundsuccessful in adding variety into the healthy eating lifestyle of your pickyeater!
Wishing you a week of health and wellness,
–Ricci-Lee Hotz, MS, RDN
Denver’s Dancing Dietitian
A Taste of Health, LLC
“Improving Quality of life one bite at a time”
Photovia Pixabay by Studioessen