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Get Children to Eat More Vegetables

  • Arati Shah

  • 11, Sep. 2023

Get Children to Eat More Vegetables

Vegetables are rich in anti-oxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fiber. Their intake helps in preventing nutritional deficiencies and thus protects the child against illnesses. Children in general do not find vegetables appealing and so are extremely picky when it comes to eating them. Consulting with a child nutritionist can help parents strategize on how to get children to eat their vegetables.  

Some tips to help incorporate vegetables in the child’s diet: 

  • Mix vegetables into favourite meals: Adding vegetables to pastas, pizza, or burger can help children get more vegetables. For example, adding carrots and peas burger patties or adding pumpkin to the pasta or pizza sauce.  

  • Serve dips / sauces with vegetables: Serving carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus or a curd dip can encourage the intake of vegetables. Alternatively, making a roll or sandwich with hummus or salsa with vegetables as a filling can be a great snack option to increase the vegetable intake. 

  • Make colorful salads: Making the salads more colourful can turn on their appeal in children. Adding a simple homemade dressing can help add taste and flavour to the colourful salad.  

  • Add them toparathas / rotis: Chop greens like mustard leaves, methi or spinach finely and mix them with flour and spices to make tasty parathas.  

  • Use herbs and spices: Children do not accept the taste of certain vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etcdue to their taste. Adding herbs and spices like oregano, garlic, black pepper, etc can help in improving their taste.   

 Besides these strategies, a few points for parents to remember are: 

  • Be a good example: Research shows that children almost always ape their parents. This means they tend to model the eating habits of their parents too. So, if you enjoy eating plenty of vegetables when they are around, they are likely to follow suit.  

  • Do not allow the child to graze: If the child keeps eating through the day, he/she is not likely to eat well during the meals. Offering them meals at regular times will ensure hunger during meals and they are more likely to eat the vegetables without much fuss. 

  • Involve children in meal planning: When children are involved in the planning and preparation of meals, they are more likely to be invested in it. This will make them value what is prepared and thus decrease the fuss during mealtimes. 

  • Be patient: Research indicates that it takes up to 12-15 turns before the child can start warming up to a particular food. So, parents need to be patient and keep putting in the effort with a positive attitude.  

Getting children to interact with a child nutritionist can help them understand the importance of what they are eating and what they should eat. The best dietitian in Mumbai can help parents navigate through their child’s fussiness with vegetables with the right approach.   

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