How to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Photo by cottonbro studio 

 

Getting your kids to eat healthier can be challenging for most parents. However, no area is more challenging than getting them to eat more fruits and vegetables, but it is a must that you get them to start eating these healthy foods as much as possible.

 

This task can be very frustrating for parents of picky eaters. The good news is that with a few tips, you can get your children to start eating a lot more healthily.

 

Here are some tips to get you started.

 

Have Fruits and Vegetables Readily Available

 

Having fruits and vegetables readily available so that your child can have them as snacks anytime they want is a great way to get them to eat more fruits. 

 

Instead of stocking your pantry with potato chips and chocolate cookies, have fruits salads, vegetable salads, and healthy avocado toast, available that they can eat or whenever they want to. When you give your children no option but to eat healthily they will comply. 

 

If you have unhealthy snacks available it’s what they will eat.

Try Dipping When You Can

 

One way for you to make your children eat more fruits and vegetables is to allow them to dip them into something a little bit tastier. 

 

For example, many fruits or vegetables taste better when they are dipped in peanut butter, salad dressing, and even hummus.

 

All of this makes it easy for you to get them to eat their fruits and vegetables without much complaining.

Make Juices

 

If you can’t get your children to eat their fruits and veggies then you may just be able to get them to drink them. Get yourself a juicer and blend green juices whenever you can. You can then mix them in with fruit sometimes to make them a little bit sweeter.

 

Try to find the best recipes you can for juicing fruits and vegetables separately or together to try to make them as delicious as possible. This will get your children to eat their fruits and veggies without complaining.

 

Some of these juices may be so delicious, you may be hard-pressed to get your children to go back to eating their fruits and vegetables the traditional way.

 

The great thing about creating juices is that they can be readily absorbed by the body. This means that your children will be getting a lot of nutrients and minerals quickly.

 

Model Good Eating Habits

 

You should model good eating habits for your children. The best way to get them to eat well is to show them the behavior yourself. This means that you should reduce your intake of unhealthy snacks and choose to eat fruits and vegetables instead.

 

Try as many healthy recipes with fruits and vegetables as you can. The internet is filled with these types of recipes.

 

On some websites, you can even see the star rating for the recipe. You can find recipes that are specifically geared toward kids to get them to eat more fruits and vegetables. 

 

Take advantage of all these resources that you have available to create fun and delicious recipes with fruits and veggies.

Don’t Give Up

It can take some time before your children get used to eating lots of fruits and vegetables. The best thing you can do is to keep introducing it to them in a variety of different ways to force them to accept the fact that they have to eat them.

 

If your children are old enough you should also explain to them all the health benefits that they will gain from eating lots of fruits and vegetables. 

 

If you can’t appeal to their taste buds, you can at least appeal to their logical minds. Kids are capable of understanding the importance of staying healthy and eating the right foods.

 

Take Your Kids Shopping

 

Taking your kids grocery shopping for fruits and veggies is a great way to get them involved in the entire process. You should have them select their fruits and vegetables. 

 

It personalizes the eating healthy and could be just what you need to get them to enjoy the foods that they have purchased. It will also make things more connected for them when they use these fruits and vegetables in recipes.

 

Get Healthy

 

Getting your kids as healthy as possible is always the goal. However, sometimes getting them to eat right can be very challenging. 

 

The good news is that by implementing a few strategies you should be able to get them accustomed to eating their fruits and vegetables in one form or the other. Once they get used to eating this way it will become second nature.