Most of us who are parents have been there. A standoff, with a toddler, over vegetables. It’s amazing, really, the amount of strength and just pure muscle a toddler can put into rejecting veggies. They squeeze their lips shut, arch their back, hold their breath, and maybe, just maybe, if we do manage to get those peas in their mouth, execute the most convincing gag of all time. We, in turn, contort our face, make guttural noises that are supposed to mimic an airplane or train, drive or fly the food through the air, hold our breath, then take a deep breath, arch our back and HOPE that this time the food will go in and life will be good! Sound familiar? So, how do we change this cycle and get our kids to actually enjoy healthier foods and start to choose them over less healthy options. I’m not an expert and certainly don’t claim to be, but after being a schoolteacher for 29 years and raising my own 2 children, I have learned a few SIMPLE things along the way that have helped me in this venture.
The first, and very SIMPLE, thing to do is think about what tone of voice you ask your littles to eat their healthy food. If you are using the same voice you use when you tell them to take out the trash or not run in the house, chances are they are going to equate eating healthy to a chore. I think we all can agree that a chore is something that must be done, but we may not necessarily enjoy it. One of the keys to getting kids to eat healthy is to help them see they can ENJOY healthy food. Try talking about healthy food in a more positive voice. While in the grocery store, if you have your littles with you, have them notice all the bright colors of all the vegetables. Maybe even make a game out of it and tell them they can pick one green thing and one yellow thing from the produce section to add to the shopping cart. Exclaim about the smells of the fresh produce. No, you don’t have to sound like a cheerleader, squealing with delight at the latest score, but try and add a little excitement in your voice as you talk about healthy foods.
Maybe try a new fruit or vegetable that you’ve never had before. It could be a “food field trip!”
If you don’t take your littles with you, talk about these things as you unpack and put away your groceries.
Another idea is to let kids grow their own food. It has actually been said that kids will eat what they grow! What a novel idea! Even if you don’t have a big garden plot, try growing some little pots of veggies in your house or on a deck. Kids get so excited to see something grow and if they get to reap the reward of eating it too, even better!
What about whole grains? Several years ago, I served on the Montana Healthy Kids Coalition and learned some great tips I wished I had known when I was a younger mom. One SIMPLE idea they had is to start with half and half. For example, when you make a sandwich, use one piece of whole wheat bread, and one piece of white bread. If you serve the sandwich white side up, chances are they won’t even notice. There are also whole wheat white breads available to use when you first start if you have a child who may totally resist the wheat option. You can do the same with pasta. When making spaghetti, for example, cook up your noodles using half whole wheat noodles. I’ve done this with my family (although they were much older) and they actually enjoyed the variety of noodles. You can also add some of the veggie-based noodles that are on the market now for more variety and color in your pasta.
As they get older, you can continue with these tactics, but they will become more sophisticated. For example, when heading to the grocery store, have your older child or teen add a fruit and vegetable of their choice to the shopping list. The focus on a variety of colors is always a SIMPLE way to make sure they are getting a variety of nutrients. Making suggestions like, “Why don’t you eat something green and something yellow today,” will get them thinking about variety. Stear their suggestions to include a mixture of fruits and vegetables. Maybe give them 3 choices: green, orange, and red.
Don’t get me wrong, I know these tricks don’t work every day. There are those days that nothing works. No amount of talking, bribing, cheerfulness, or sweet talk will convince your little, pre-teen, or teen to eat that healthier option. I remember fretting about this when my kids were young. Although I always reminded them to try and eat something green every day, there were days that just didn’t fly. Then I read an article in a parenting magazine that had some great advice! Instead of looking at what your child(ren) eats just in a day, look at their week. Their appetites are so different than ours and they aregrowing at varying rates; although we would love to see them get all the recommended foods in a day, looking at their week may give us a more optimistic perspective of what they are eating.
The same concept applies to how often and/or how much they eat. Just recently, I was talking with one of my middle school students who was struggling to stay awake. I asked him if he had eaten breakfast. He told me, yes, he had, then paused. “Yesterday,” he said. Well, not what I had in mind, but okay. A start. Getting our kids to eat on a schedule can also be a challenge. Encouraging them to eat breakfast (I say breakfast because it’s usually the toughest) is hard, but finding something they enjoy that is nutritionally rich in content is probably more important than imputing on them that they have to eat what is offered and finish it. This can turn into a power struggle and then the whole idea of WHY we eat breakfast (or whatever it might be) is lost as we try and navigate this power struggle. Remember, getting into a power struggle with a child is like mud wrestling with a pig. They like it!
Most important of all, be a role model of making healthy eating choices. Kids learn from what we do far more than what we say! I would love to hear your reactions to this article and ideas you’ve used in the comments below! If you like this blog, please share it. If you want to receive more information like this, please subscribe to follow me. Have a healthy day!