How to help kids learn to eat more fruits and vegetables

One concern I hear a lot from parents is that their kids are not very adventurous when it comes to eating and enjoying a variety of fruit and vegetables. Fruit tends to be a bit more popular for kids due to its sweeter flavour but it can sometimes still be a challenge to get in a wide variety. So parents are often asking for strategies to help them encourage their kids to try more fruit and vegetables. Some adults may need some help here too.

Its no secret that fruit and vegetables are great for your health. They are full of fibre and vitamins and minerals that are essential for good health. In addition, both fruit and vegetables contain antioxidants and phytochemicals which play an important role in preventing chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. So getting in more fruit and vegetables every day is a great idea. But how?

First and foremost Offer, offer, offer! It can take multiple tries, and when I say multiple, I mean like 15-20 tries before kids actually touch, smell or taste a new food. Try not to get discouraged. If kids turn up their noses on the first few tries, keep at it, try and try again.

Offer a variety of fruit and vegetables and switch up how you prepare it. Serve raw, roasted, steamed, grated or with different herbs or spices. Seeing a familiar food in a new way might be enough to pique curiosity and result in a bite or two.

Get the kids involved. Ask your children to help you pick a new fruit or vegetable to try. You could start by looking up recipes for a new and interesting fruit or veggie to try out at home and then add it to your grocery list. Alternatively, you could bring kiddos grocery shopping with you and ask them pick out the most interesting fruit or veggie they see and then look up recipes together to learn how to prepare this new food at home. Make sure you include the kids in preparing this new food too! Once kids are more invested in choosing and preparing a new food, it is more likely that they will try it.

Learn about different fruits and vegetables. Check out a farmers market, visit a farm, pick your own or even grow your own. Seeing how fruit and vegetables grow and meeting the people who grow these foods may help kids gain interest in trying something new. Being the person to grow these foods is even more exciting. Getting kids in the garden to grow their own vegetables or fruit is a great way to get them interested in new foods, they will be excited to taste the fruit of their labour.

Offer fruit or vegetables with a dip or sauce. Sometimes adding in a familiar flavour can help kids feel more comfortable and eager to try something new.

Serve new fruit or vegetables with familiar foods. Sitting down to a meal consisting of all new foods can be pretty overwhelming for a kid, especially those who are already selective eaters. Serving new foods with familiar and accepted foods, helps kids to be feel more comfortable at meals and snacks and more open to trying something new.

Add fruit or vegetables to other recipes such as muffins, cookies, tomato sauces, meatballs, scones, soups or stews. Of course, you don’t need to be sneaky about it. It is important for kids to know that the fruit or vegetable has been added, otherwise they may become worried that you are ‘tampering’ with all their food. This could inadvertently contribute to picky eating as kids may become weary of what is on their plate.

Include a fruit and veggie at each meal and snack, prepare a veggie and fruit platter as a centrepiece on your dinner table each night. Being given the opportunity to have fruit and veggies multiple times in a day may increase the chances that kids will eat more.

And of course, the most important, avoid pressuring your child to eat their veggies (and fruit). When we pressure our kids to eat, we create a power struggle, which often leads to more selective eating.

Encouraging kids to eat more fruit and vegetables is not an impossible task. It may take a little time to see a change but giving the ideas above a try may just help in getting kids more excited to try something new.