You probably turned your nose up at broccoli when you were ten too. The trouble is that fruit and vegetables are essential for our health and when it comes to kids, we ignore this at our peril. Reluctant adults may be able to force a few salads down, but kids can be vegetable-resistant to an astonishing degree. Nor does ‘You won’t leave the table till you’ve eaten your greens’ wash with most kids. So how do we get our kids to eat the five portions of fruit and veggies a day that health authorities worldwide recommend?
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Sneaky or Hard-line?
Puree it, color it, flavor it. In fact, disguise it in any way possible. That’s the sneaky approach. The end justifies the means, its proponents claim. Detractors insist that kids ‘have to learn’. That’s the hard-line approach.
It seems to be true that most kids genuinely don’t like the bitter taste they associate with vegetables, especially the essentially leafy green ones. So how is making them eat them going to change their minds? Many adults have one or two vegetables that they’ve never learned to like, and never will.
For kids, as in most things, a middle road is the best course. Sneak in enough to ensure your kids don’t get rickets or scurvy. At the same time, introduce them to a wide variety of vegetables ‘in the flesh’ to try to refine their palates and find something they do like. Maybe broccoli just isn’t for them. Here are some ideas for using the insights of both schools of thought.
° Sneaky isn’t necessarily devious. A bolognese sauce, to which is added that very finely chopped spinach that you can buy frozen, is a great standby. Incorporated into the sauce it’s barely visible, doesn’t look too green and doesn’t taste bitter at all.
° Spaghetti sauce is also an ideal cover for other vegetables, suitably pureed. Broccoli and cauliflower are two vegetables that work well in pasta sauce. Hide vegetables on pizza by placing them between the tomato sauce base paste and the cheese.
° Cheese hides a multitude of horrors. Macaroni cheese with concealed vegetables is easy to make. If you want to hide green vegetables, use spinach penne.
° Kids are great hypocrites. They might not eat a plate of vegetables, but vegetable soup, with alphabet noodles as a distraction, often goes down the right way. If straight vegetable soup is too much, add canned tomatoes to add sweetness and color.
° Another way to capitalize on this rank juvenile hypocrisy is to grow your own veggies. Kids may eat vegetables they’ve grown themselves even though they won’t touch the bought equivalent.
° Vegetables cut into interesting shapes (funny faces and the like) are typically more palatable than those served au naturel.
° Cooking methods are key. Roasted vegetables are sweeter and more aromatic than boiled. If necessary, honey-glaze root vegetables. Some kids will be quite happy with stir-fried vegetables. A sweet and sour sauce will eclipse most of the veggie flavor. Alternatively, stir-frying vegetables with bacon may work, since the bacon will be the dominant flavour. If you insist on boiled vegetables, sometimes cooking them more or less than you normally do may change your child’s attitude to them.
° Most kids like French-fries. Parsnips are a viable alternative that may convert picky eaters to the cause of vegetable consumption. For a really quick parsnip snack, use a potato peeler to create thin strips and bake in a hot oven for 5-10 minutes.
° It might not be in the same league as a salad, but sweet vegetable dishes do still count towards the five a day. To keep down the sugar and fat intake, serve them in moderation. Pumpkin or butternut fritters, carrot or zucchini cupcakes or muffins not only count, but can help to boost positive associations between vegetables and yummy food.
° If the objection is ‘Yecch, it’s green!’, then there are several ways to break the association of ‘green’ with ‘bitter’ and ‘nasty’. Spinach penne dishes were mentioned above. Avocado or guacamole will appeal to some kids. Pesto sauce with pasta can also inculcate good associations. You can even use approved green coloring to transform vegetables kids will eat and break the bad equation. Maybe you wouldn’t eat green potato waffles, but that’s not the point.
° Usually it’s vegetables that are the sticking point, but some kids aren’t keen on fresh fruit. Dried fruit has fewer vitamins but may appeal to some children and is better than no fruit at all.
Getting kids to consume five portions of fruit and vegetables a day needn’t be a battle royal, although some kids are peculiarly resolute in their rejection of healthy living. A glass of fruit juice, some dried fruit and a carrot muffin, two portions of vegetables concealed in the evening meal and ice cream with fruit salad inside: the job is done. If the tricks don’t work, remember that most kids will grow out of their antipathy. If all else fails, you may want to consult a health professional about vitamin supplements. With luck creative thinking may just solve the problem.
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