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How to make kids eat their vegetables.

December 1, 2015 - Author: Omonioboli - 13 Comments

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Hey fabulous mom, trust you all are doing great! It’s almost always a bother to get our kids to eat their vegetables and even sometimes their fruits. Some kids just don’t want to hear it. Never mind,

help is here. Again, I am going to share some ways that I got my kids to tolerate their veggies. One of my kids just doesn’t tolerate his veggies, he actually loves it! He’s not happy if you give him rice without salad. He can barely eat it. He loves his rice with some vegetable on the side.
1. Practice what you preach!
The first thing however is to lead by example! The first thing my kids ask when you present them with any new meal is, ‘Is it healthy’? If you say it is, they will at least try it. I have over the years, taught them by my own eating habits, what is healthy, and what isn’t. By far the best determinant of a child’s eating behavior is the eating patterns of their parents. If vegetables and healthy foods are always an afterthought in your home, you can’t expect your kids to take to them. The most important thing is to set a good example. Your actions speak louder than words. Plus you need your vegetables too!

2. Make food fun
Relating healthy food to fun things the child already loves and turning it into a game is a great way to get them to eat their veggies. They also love playing make believe. I remember once we went out to eat with my cousin and her boys. One of her kids didn’t want to est his veggies because he doesn’t like veggies. My husband got him to eat it by saying the veggies were his Goliath and he needed to slay his Goliath. We made it fun by cheering him on with every mouthful and hailing him for slaying his Goliath! He ended up eating the whole thing. We cannot overemphasize the need to make food and meal times fun!

3. Get them involved
Like we said before, children are more interested in a meal if they help with its preparation. Letting them clean carrots, mix the dressing, wash the green vegetables and set the table. It gives them a sense of pride and makes them more enthusiastic and cooperative at meal time. Even taking them to the store or the market and letting them choose what tomatoes or vegetables to buy helps as well.

4. Enforce the “one mouthful rule”
Research consistently shows that children who have rejected a particular food must be exposed to it at least 21 times before concluding that they don’t like it. Many parents have had success with the “one mouthful rule,” requiring the child to try at least one solid mouthful of a rejected food whenever it is served. After enough exposures the food will be more familiar to the child and usually they begin to rate it more favorably. It works! My boys today eat foods they never liked before.

5. Don’t force them to eat it all.
One mouthful is different from finishing your plate. One of the biggest misconceptions among parents is that forcing their kids to eat food they don’t like will get them to change. However, fighting and punishments create a bad meal time experience, and the child will learn to associate food with the bad feelings. Bad food experiences have the opposite effect and actually increase lack of interest in food.

6. Reward good behavior
On the other side of the coin, creating positive food experiences can decrease picky eating tendencies. Research has shown that rewarding a child for trying one bite of a rejected food with fun things or fun times make it easier for them to try the food. They are also more likely to rate the food positively in the future.

7. Offer diverse food colors
One thing you have working in your favor is that children like colorful foods. You can expose them to more colors by adding more vegetables to their plates.

8. Arrange food in patterns on the plate
Another reason to cook different vegetables separately is that children love when their food is designed into patterns on their plate. Unlike adults, who prefer foods clumped near each other in the center of the plate, kids like their food separated into piles around the perimeter. If you shape it into a heart or smiley face, they’ll like it even more. This is another way to make food fun.

9. Use additional flavours
There’s nothing wrong with introducing additional flavors to vegetables to make them tastier to children. For a picky child, the most important thing is that he gets comfortable and familiar with the rejected food. If that means serving it along with something you know he’ll enjoy. That’s fine! I encourage you to use ingredients that are as close to real food (minimally processed without strange chemicals) as possible. Children can handle a few extra calories, especially if it helps them learn to enjoy spinach. When I give my boys smoothies, I add a lot more bananas and just a handful of spinach. Sometimes, I add some homemade yoghurt to their fruit and vegetable smoothies. made from Nunu milk of course! (Leave a comment if you want my homemade yoghurt recipe)

10. Keep at it
Some children will be more difficult than others, and will require more effort and patience. It’s important to realize, however, that the habits they develop at a young age will remain with them long into adulthood. For your sake and theirs, it is worth solving picky eating problems as soon as possible. Continue to set a good example, create fun, positive experiences around food, let them help in the kitchen, enforce the one mouthful rule and do anything else you can to keep exposing them, in a pleasant way, to the healthy foods they reject. Your persistence will eventually pay off! Whatever you do, don’t give up because our kids need to Grow Everyday!
As always, I love reading from you. Leave a comment. Tell me about your own experiences. Let’s learn from each other. Keep smiling!


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Discussion (13 Comments)

  1. by Tiwatope Olalere
    Reply

    I don’t know the right word to qualify you with but the truth is that I so much appreciate this post. Kudos!!! Also,I want your homemade youghurt recepie…I wanna be a great mum like you reallu.

  2. by Tiwatope Olalere
    Reply

    I don’t know the right word to qualify you with but the truth is that I so much appreciate this post. Kudos!!! Also,I want your homemade youghurt recepie…I wanna be a great mum like you really.

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  5. by jennifer
    Reply

    Lovely article, will follow this approach with my kids. Will love to see your homemade yoghurt recipe.

  6. […] Nollywood actress and mother of three, Omoni Oboli has shared a new post on her blog. […]

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  8. by Bodunde Alabi(Odun)
    Reply

    Omoni thanks for these tips. Hhmmm it’s only my last boy that hate vegetables, infact with a passion.. He wldnt just eat anything call vegetables. He doesn’t eat salad, garden egg or any food that’s different from rice, beans, eba,pounded yam etc, e be like say na village boy e be and na em look like Britico among them o. even if I prepare porridge with vegetables he won’t eat or either picking the vegetables one by one, he picks onion from food too that’s to tell u how bad the situation is. ..but with these tips I think something must happen.. Lol.

    • by Omonioboli
      Reply

      Lol! Whatever you do, don’t give up! A little at a time!

  9. by Stephanie Nkechi Chigbu
    Reply

    Wow!!! Nice one. I ll try all these methods, this post is meant for me….please ma, i ll like your homemade yoghurt recipe.

  10. by Ochuko
    Reply

    Nice Article! I admire you a lot. Hope to be a proud mother soon.

  11. by Uche
    Reply

    Thanks for the tips.pls i want your homemade yoghurt receipe,my baby just turned 6mths and i would love to know the best approach to introduce solid.Tnx

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