Eight ways to get your child to eat veggies

To be honest, vegetables rate low when it comes to my food choices because I don’t fancy their taste. For me anyways. Even as an adult, I sometimes skip them and go straight to the tastier options. Did someone say sticky wings?

Getting your child to eat vegetables is a learning curve. Most kids don’t automatically love them so you’ll have to find creative ways to make them eat veggies. Veggies are important for their development as they’re part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Not an easy task and not an impossible one either, there are certain ways you can convince your kids to eat their veggies without having to use threats.

i.Make them delicious

Veggies can have a flat and sometimes sour taste. Automatically, your kid’s palette won’t love the taste when compared to chicken or pizza. One way around it is to find some good recipes to make them taste better so that your child will enjoy eating them more.

You can cook them in butter, peanut butter sauce or have them with veggie dips.

ii.Have a reward system

Everybody loves rewards especially kids. And parents have sworn by this technique because it actually works! The system will motivate them to eat and finish the vegetables on their plate because they know they can get the rewards when they’re done.

You don’t want to overdo the reward with sugary ice-creams and unhealthy dessert though. You can choose their favorite fruits, yoghurt and any other creative reward systems that are suitable.

iii.Engage them while cooking

When kids feel like their input is important, they’re more likely to enjoy eating the vegetables. You should try getting them involved in what kind of veggies they’d like, what ingredients to use and everything to do with that. You can be sure that they’ll eat them with this technique.

iv.Work on the presentation

The way you present the food to them has a huge impact on whether they’ll be motivated to eat or not. Forcefully pressuring your kids to eat something they don’t want can easily backfire.

So one of the techniques you can use is presenting the food in an appealing way. Make it colorful and attractive to the eye.

v.Educate them on the importance of eating veggies

Kids need to understand why it’s important to eat vegetables so that they’re more interested in eating them. Most of them won’t want to eat them if they don’t know why they need to in the first place.

You might have to go the extra mile to educate them so that they have a deeper understanding. This will definitely work.

vi.Use peer pressure

Trick them into loving their vegetables by incorporating other family members. When they see their siblings, you or their relative enjoying their serving, they psychologically start associating the vegetables with something pleasant. It’s a mind trick that might help them love vegetables more.

vii.Serve veggies more often

Serving your kids veggies often times might make them like greens over time. It’s just a way of helping them embrace them more over time rather than pressuring them to like them immediately. You’d be surprised that they actually like them and that you don’t need to do too much convincing.

viii.Sneak them into their favorite dishes

Your child doesn’t even have to realize that they’ve been eating a lot of healthy vegetables. If no other method works, try sneaking them into their favorite soups, sandwiches and other more appealing meals. This is a great way to introduce the healthy eating habit gradually.

It’s usually better to find creative ways to make them eat vegetables. Bombarding them with the pressure to do so might only make them hate them even more. Some children actually grow up hating vegetables into adulthood because of the trauma their parents put them true forcing them to eat their veggies. Ease into it and don’t give up on trying to convince them. No matter your frustrations, don’t force them.