Child vs. Vegetable

Popeye cartoons may have helped little boys growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s learn to eat their spinach, but parents are often looking for further help. Trying to get children to eat their vegetables has been a constant struggle for most parents. There are certain “tricks” that work quite well with many children. Some can also be good educational opportunities, such as vegetable gardening. A child who helps plant and tend the vegetable garden will be more likely to want to eat those vegetables, or at least give them a try, when they are served at the dinner table. Seeing the family enjoying the food that they helped grow will instill a deep sense of pride in your child.

Also, allowing your children to help both plan and prepare their own meals is another good way to pique their interest in vegetables. Although a young child should not be allowed to handle knives or get near a hot stove, you can still safely engage them in the cooking process. Let them wash the vegetables. Let them toss the salad. Let them push the “start” button on the microwave or Cuisinart. Let them be the taste tester. I have very fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table, gabbing with my grandmother and helping her snap the ends off of string beans. It wasn’t a chore; it was fun. And knowing that I helped Grandma prepare the beans made them taste oh-so delicious.

You might try sneaking veggies into dishes that you know the child already enjoys. For example, add diced mushrooms, green peppers, onions, or a combination of these to your spaghetti sauce. Serve hamburgers topped with a slice of tomato, onion, and a leaf of Romaine lettuce. Stir some canned pumpkin into your child’s oatmeal. Make French fries out of butternut squash (see the recipe at hungry-girl.com). Baked potatoes can easily become baked sweet potatoes, which provide an abundance of vitamin A. Broccoli is a great addition to macaroni and cheese, while peas, carrots and corn nibblets fit very nicely into most casserole recipes and soups. If serving pizza, make it a veggie pizza. Some sneaky children will “eat around” the new ingredient; when this occurs chop the vegetable into finer pieces next time or simply leave it out.

It’s perfectly fine to use canned and frozen vegetables; they offer the same nutritional value as their fresh produce cousins — just make sure that the manufacturer has not added other ingredients, like preservatives, MSG, butter, oil, salt, sugar, or corn syrup. When I buy frozen cauliflower, I want the label to read simply, INGREDIENTS: Cauliflower. (Nothing more, nothing less.) A good rule of thumb is: The shorter the ingredient list, the better.

If your child is very young (age 3 and under), you might want to stick with small finger foods, like cooled boiled baby carrots and raw broccoli florets. It can be both fun and educational when you incorporate games such as counting and having the child name the colors of the vegetables. Make believe is also a great tool. Pretend that broccoli spears are trees and celery stalks are boats; your child is a giant who devours them both. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing with your food, as long as it is eventually eaten. Be sure to always closely supervise young children whenever they eat, to prevent choking accidents and to make sure the food does not wind up in the wrong body orifice!

A person’s taste preferences will differ greatly over a lifetime. As a toddler, I loved to eat raw tomatoes yet hated most other veggies; now that I’m grown, the exact opposite is true. So be sure to expose your child to a wide variety of foods and don’t be afraid to offer him or her the same food a few different times and prepared in different ways. A child who hates steamed broccoli may really enjoy raw broccoli. And one that hates corn one day may find it very tasty a year later. Also, make sure your child sees you truly enjoying the vegetables on your own plate. Children will learn by example and aspire to imitate their parents.

When speaking to your child, try referring to each vegetable by its specific name. For instance, rather than saying “Please eat your veggies, honey” instead try saying “Mmmm… Have you tasted the carrots yet? They are so sweet!” This not only helps to build your child’s vocabulary, it also prevents the child from lumping his/her likes and dislikes into a single category, becoming biased against the food before even trying it. If you simply call it a vegetable, the child’s brain may respond with “I don’t like vegetables” and the prejudice can be instantaneous.

Finally, don’t pressure your child into eating foods that are not palatable to him/her. And never punish a child for refusing food or not cleaning his plate. Forcing food upon your child can lead to eating disorders, anxiety, and a lifelong aversion to that very same food you want him to eat. A child’s eating habits can be a beacon to what is silently going on inside his body. For instance, the child might be physically ill, experiencing dental pain, allergic to certain foods, etc. Monitor your child’s weight and consult a physician with any concerns. It is perfectly fine to allow your child to substitute fruits in place of vegetables. Vitamin A can not only be found in vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes but also in peaches, mangos, oranges, and papayas. Children naturally tend to lean toward sweet rather than savory tastes, and they are often more sensitive about food textures than adults. Respect your individual child’s taste preferences. After all, sitting down to dinner with one’s family should be a treat, not a chore — even for a kid that refuses to eat his veggies.

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