It can be very difficult to encourage your little ones to eat their fill of fruit and vegetables each day and, no doubt, every parent has at least one story about a fussy eater at the dinner table.
However, there are a few little tricks you can try that will maximise your chances of success and help ensure that your kids are getting all the nutrition they need to help them grow up happy and healthy, fully equipped with the habits they’ll need to maintain good health as they get older.
First of all, starting them young can help them form habits that will stick. Providing your children with fruit as a tasty snack from the outset instead of chocolate or crisps means they’ll be more likely to consider this as a go-to option in the future.
Also remember that you don’t always have to give them fruit or veggies in whole form. You can also get nutrition from drinking your greens! What about serving up a small glass of juice at breakfast time to help them get their five a day?
Making your own green juice is an effective way of upping their veg content, particularly if you’ve got a picky eater on your hands. Involve them with the making of it so they can see what’s going in the juicer… or even encourage them to come up with their own ideas for recipes.
And something else to bear in mind is that variety is the spice of life! If your child doesn’t respond well to one type of fruit or veg, perhaps try them on something else and then circle back to what hasn’t gone down quite so well.
It may also be the way you’re cooking the veggies that is part of the problem, since different cooking methods and ingredients can bring out different flavours and textures. A bit of trial and error, and you’re sure to find a winning fruit and veg formula sooner rather than later!
Need further help or advice? Take a look at our child nutrition course to see if it could be of benefit.