HOW TO ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO EAT VEGETABLES?
1) Be an example
How are other people, especially children, supposed to start eating vegetables when we adults very often don’t eat them ourselves? It is very important to eat healthy meals together at the table without taking care of other things.
2) Talk
You should talk to children about healthy eating. Explain to him why it is important to eat vegetables. Not because they are “healthy”, just because they contain specific ingredients and have a beneficial effect on the body, e.g. “broccoli has a lot of calcium so that you have strong bones and can play football well”.
3) Pay attention to how you serve meals
Nothing that is expressionless will be attractive to eat for adults, much less for children. Therefore, the administration of vegetables requires some commitment to arrange them nicely, decorate them and arrange nice images, e.g. smiley, car or flower.
4) Give attractive names
This is probably the most effective way to encourage children to eat vegetables. Which won’t be tempted by “power soup”, “princess salad” or colorful “knight sandwiches”?
5) A way to idol
This is a very effective method, especially for children who already have their passions. Tell your child that cauliflower is his favorite footballer’s vegetable and thanks to him he scores goals so often.
6) Engage your child in preparations
Cooking together and involving your child in preparing dishes is the key to success. The child touches, smells, tastes vegetables, and when he helps to make a meal himself, there are good chances of eating them together.
7) Go shopping together
This is also a very important point. Shopping is the first step towards healthy eating. Take your child to the vegetable sections and let him choose the ones he likes, at home look for a recipe for preparing selected vegetables together.
8) Nothing forcibly
If the child even gets hysterical that he does not want to eat vegetables, do not force him, do not shout, do not say that if he does not eat it … Let go and try the next day again.
9) Smuggle but don’t cheat
Smuggling vegetables in soup, chop, potatoes, etc. it’s a good way for your child to eat vegetables, but keep in mind that this is not a solution for years to come. Try to leave larger and larger pieces of vegetables in meals. Serve vegetables with your favorite dishes, e.g. vegetable fries, vegetables in casseroles, pizza or pancakes.
10) Give choice
The child must have a choice. The question: “Do you want cabbage, carrots or beetroot for dinner today?”, sounds completely different and more positive for a child for vegetables than saying, “There is cabbage for dinner today.”
11) Snacks
Vegetables are a good snack both at home and outside. Arrange sliced, peeled vegetables and tasty dips at home.
12) Expand your assortment
Do not focus on giving your child the same vegetables all the time. Slowly introduce others in different forms and different dishes.
13) Take care of consistency
Every child has different tastes about eating vegetables. If the child prefers vegetables in the soup whole instead of vegetable cream, do not mix them forcibly.
14) Garden plays
Put vegetables with your child in the garden or on the windowsill. Caring for them will make the child more willing to eat them later.
15) Reward
Reward for eating healthy meals, but don’t do it very often. Vegetables themselves can also be a great reward for other things.
How are other people, especially children, supposed to start eating vegetables when we adults very often don’t eat them ourselves? It is very important to eat healthy meals together at the table without taking care of other things.
2) Talk
You should talk to children about healthy eating. Explain to him why it is important to eat vegetables. Not because they are “healthy”, just because they contain specific ingredients and have a beneficial effect on the body, e.g. “broccoli has a lot of calcium so that you have strong bones and can play football well”.
3) Pay attention to how you serve meals
Nothing that is expressionless will be attractive to eat for adults, much less for children. Therefore, the administration of vegetables requires some commitment to arrange them nicely, decorate them and arrange nice images, e.g. smiley, car or flower.
4) Give attractive names
This is probably the most effective way to encourage children to eat vegetables. Which won’t be tempted by “power soup”, “princess salad” or colorful “knight sandwiches”?
5) A way to idol
This is a very effective method, especially for children who already have their passions. Tell your child that cauliflower is his favorite footballer’s vegetable and thanks to him he scores goals so often.
6) Engage your child in preparations
Cooking together and involving your child in preparing dishes is the key to success. The child touches, smells, tastes vegetables, and when he helps to make a meal himself, there are good chances of eating them together.
7) Go shopping together
This is also a very important point. Shopping is the first step towards healthy eating. Take your child to the vegetable sections and let him choose the ones he likes, at home look for a recipe for preparing selected vegetables together.
8) Nothing forcibly
If the child even gets hysterical that he does not want to eat vegetables, do not force him, do not shout, do not say that if he does not eat it … Let go and try the next day again.
9) Smuggle but don’t cheat
Smuggling vegetables in soup, chop, potatoes, etc. it’s a good way for your child to eat vegetables, but keep in mind that this is not a solution for years to come. Try to leave larger and larger pieces of vegetables in meals. Serve vegetables with your favorite dishes, e.g. vegetable fries, vegetables in casseroles, pizza or pancakes.
10) Give choice
The child must have a choice. The question: “Do you want cabbage, carrots or beetroot for dinner today?”, sounds completely different and more positive for a child for vegetables than saying, “There is cabbage for dinner today.”
11) Snacks
Vegetables are a good snack both at home and outside. Arrange sliced, peeled vegetables and tasty dips at home.
12) Expand your assortment
Do not focus on giving your child the same vegetables all the time. Slowly introduce others in different forms and different dishes.
13) Take care of consistency
Every child has different tastes about eating vegetables. If the child prefers vegetables in the soup whole instead of vegetable cream, do not mix them forcibly.
14) Garden plays
Put vegetables with your child in the garden or on the windowsill. Caring for them will make the child more willing to eat them later.
15) Reward
Reward for eating healthy meals, but don’t do it very often. Vegetables themselves can also be a great reward for other things.
Source: wyborcza.pl, fragment of a book „JEDZ ZIELONE”, Hanna Stolińska-Fiedorowicz
