The hands-down easiest way to get your kids to eat more fruits and vegetables is to get them started early. Research shows that children are social eaters. Unconsciously, they learn from their surroundings.
This means that by the time your child is 2 to 4 years of age, he or she has already developed a taste profile. Certain things are just going to taste better to your child than others. This is why it is absolutely important to get your kids eating organic, healthy fruits and vegetables, nuts and berries, and whole grains, as young as it makes sense to do so.Kids want to do what their parents do. They will eat what you eat. Their bodies are forming rapidly when they are growing up, so the more exposure your children have to healthy foods at a very young age, and the more they see mom and dad eating the same types of foods, the better chance you have at developing healthy and smart eating habits in your children.
Put a Spiralizer or Julienne to Work
Spiralizers turn ordinary fruits and vegetables into curly-cues, spirals and other visually appealing attention-getters. They can help you turn an ordinary vegetable into something your child cannot wait to taste. This also helps create a unique texture experience as well. Juliennes and spiralizers are inexpensive, and they come in just about every size, shape and construction you can imagine. There are hand-powered and electric models, and the creations they make get your children excited and interested in eating fruits and vegetables.
Get Your Children Juicing
Your child may never eat kale in a million years. Put a few kale leaves through a juicer along with an orange, a handful of blueberries, some celery, a cucumber and carrots, and you have a superfood juice drink that delivers extremely high levels of nutrition and healthy minerals, enzymes and vitamins. There is no shortage to the number of juicing recipe books and websites you can turn to that help you create incredibly nutritious juices your children will love.
Use Smart Peer Pressure Tactics
Do your children have a favorite parent? A lot of kids do. They tend to gravitate towards one parent or another when they are young. This does not mean they don’t love both of their parents. It just means that one is usually going to be more influential than another. If you have children that are separated by a few years, you have probably seen “big brother” or “big sister” envy in your younger children.
Use these facts to your advantage.
Have mom and dad lead by example. Talk to the older siblings. Tell them that when they eat more healthy food, their younger brothers and sisters will as well. This not only makes your younger children more likely to give fruits and vegetables a go, but it also gets your older kids eating healthier foods as well.
