How Can Parents Encourage Children to Eat Vegetables?

Getting the kids to eat vegetables is the most challenging task for all the parents out there. The more you try to force them to finish their plate, the more they repel from eating healthy. For taking some nutritional bites down their system, you must first understand how their mind works.

Kids are innocent and a little stubborn too. They only enjoy things if they are interesting and more fun. Therefore, you need to develop their interest in eating veggies themselves. You might be wondering that it is near to impossible to do that. However, the truth is it is easy to achieve that if you just stay patient and try these few tricks given below.

So, read through, try them out consistently and thank me when you succeed!

9 Tips to get your child to eat vegetables –

#1 Leave No Option for the Child

It is almost impossible to make your child eat vegetables when there are other options on the table. If you want them to take the meal seriously and finish it without complaining, leave no option for them. You should eat what they eat too because kids follow the lead of their parents and consider them as their role-model.

So, make sure you finish your veggies and encourage them to do the same. However, do not sound forceful as it only repels them further.

#2 Ask for their Help

Kids tend to be more interested and enjoy more when you involve them in an activity. Therefore, get them involved in growing vegetables, buying them and preparing them with you. The more exposure they get with the veggies, the easier it becomes for them to accept the rule of healthy eating.

Plus, they are curious about the taste when they give a hand in the preparation. Make them believe that they should eat what they cooked and appreciate them for being such a great chef. These words will encourage them to finish what they have on their plate.

#3 Make the Food Exciting and Colorful

Kids are attracted to colors and shapes. Therefore, rather than giving them plain greens, try to mix the veggies up a little of different colors. Also, make a shape out of it like a smiley, a tree or a dinosaur and then ask them to make it vanish. When you are going to sound like a child too, they will be more inclined towards finishing their food.

You can also try different games to add to their excitement and help them finish. They will not even realize that they are taking it all down their system and you will get the job easily done.

#4 One Bite Rule

If your child is extremely stubborn about eating their veggies, fret not! It is probably because the kid does not have the acceptance of the taste. All you need to do is adopt the one bite rule to make them more familiar with the taste of the vegetable.

Each time you make them have one or two bites, their acceptance towards the taste increases and there does come a time when they begin to have more of it without your efforts.

#5 Give them a Reward

Whenever you observe your child’s good behavior, try to appreciate them as much as possible and give them a reward or a treat as a token of appreciation. Take them to a park and get on a family trampoline with them or just buy them an ice-cream. Also, show the appreciation through your encouraging words as well.

#6 Try Out New Delicious Recipes

Giving your kids plain sautéed veggies all the time can be a huge turn off for them. Keep trying out new recipes that present vegetables in different ways such as stuffed chicken with spinach, vegetable rolls and sandwiches, and you can even make vegetable pizza at times.

Just try to incorporate vegetables into the favorite dish of your child to make them more appealing and acceptable for them to eat.

#7 Ignorance is Good at Times

It has been generally observed that the parents who are more concerned about what and how and how much their kids eat end up struggling more than the ones who simply don’t care. Pressure and more attention can often lead to more stubbornness in kids. Therefore, act like they are old enough to responsibly finish their meal. Do not supervise them or impose anything.

Plus, make sure they are empty stomach when it is time for lunch and dinner. Giving the child snacks throughout the day can kill their hunger and when it is time to take the proper course of a meal, they only like to pass.

#8 Make a Delicious Drink Out of Veggies

If you want your kids to consume more veggies at once, making a delicious drink out of them can help take the nutrition of veggies down their system. Therefore, blend some avocado with bananas and coconut milk to neutralize the taste and make it yummier for the little ones.

You can also add cocoa powder or vanilla ice-cream for tempting the kids even more. Make it for the whole family and have it as an appetizer before lunch or dinner. This way they will not complain about getting veggies in the main course of a meal.

#9 Do not Give Up

A lot of parents usually get disappointed and lose hope and patience when their kids go stubborn. They start to believe that there is no way that they can make their kids eat healthily. However, if you stay patient and consistently try out the steps given above, there will come a time when you will not even need to ask your child to have veggies. In fact, they might start asking you for them.

But, for that, you must stay hopeful and do not impose anything on your child as it only repels them further. Be calm and adopt all the healthy habits you want your kids to adopt too.

We hope that the above recommendations would work for your child. Also, we would encourage other parents to share their similar experiences.