Get Your Kids to Eat More Vegetables: One Simple (and Often Overlooked) Strategy

Do you want to know one simple, effective strategy that many busy parents miss when trying to get their kids to eat more vegetables?

Many kids, especially picky eaters, don’t like to eat vegetables. But we know that kids need the nutrients from vegetables for their healthy growth and development. As a result, parents exhaust themselves negotiating how many bites must be eaten. Or, they stay up late pureeing vegetables to hide in other foods. While these strategies may get a few more bites of vegetables into kids, it turns meals into battles and covert ops. And, it doesn’t teach kids to choose to eat veggies. However, there is a non-sneaky way to get kids to try more and eat more vegetables.

The often-overlooked resource that many parents miss is…snacks.

You’re likely already providing at least two snacks for your child each day. But often, snacks are times when favorite foods (i.e. foods other than vegetables) are provided.

Traditionally, vegetables are served at meals (particularly dinner.) Instead, treat all meals and snacks as equals. Include vegetables at as many snacks as possible. The more times that you present a food, the more likely your child will eat it. Studies show that you need to present a food more than 10 times before a child will eat it, but it varies from food-to-food and child-to-child. By increasing the number of times a day that your child sees vegetables, he/she will become more accustomed to seeing them, and will eat more.

Kristen Yarker is known as The Dietitian Who Transforms Picky Eaters into Food Confident Kids. From introducing solids through the picky eating years, she helps Moms and Dads be confident that they’re giving their kids good nutrition today… and instilling a life-long LOVE of healthy eating. Get scientific evidence-based answers to real questions from real parents (recipes too!) by signing up for her 101 Healthy Snack Ideas at: vitaminkconsulting.com

Kids and Vegetables: A New Strategy by Kristen Yarker

How Can Simple Dietary Changes Solve Many Teenage Complaints?

What do lethargy, spots, greasy hair, mood swings, a dull complexion, being under weight or over weight, difficulty concentrating, a lack of interest in things and problems sleeping have in common? They are all complaints made by teenagers at one point or another and they can all be easily solved by making small dietary changes diet.

Here are my 3 diet change recommendations for teens:

DRINK MORE WATER. The body is 80% water, the brain needs to be properly hydrated to work at its best. All of the above complaints can be rectified by drinking more water. Try adding lemon juice or ginger to make water more interesting or store it in the fridge to enjoy it ice cold.

CONSUME SNACKS THAT DON’T COME IN PACKETS. Packet = processed. And processed food will never be as good for us as real food. Try some of these delicious snacks instead:
Nuts and fruit
Fruit dippers and yoghurt
Rice cakes and crunchy apple
Vegetable dippers and humous
Popcorn and grapes

EAT YOUR GREENS. Teen diets tend to be low in both iron and magnesium which are found in abundance in green leafy vegetables. A regular intake of green leafy vegetables including broccoli, cabbage and kale will boost energy levels and help regulate sleep patterns.

Maggie Ayre is the UKs leading Fitness Coach for Teen Girls. As well as one-to-one and small group nutrition and fitness work with teens she has developed the 3G Program designed to be run at schools as part of the PE curriculum. She also offers mentoring for PE departments on how to re-engage teen girls with PE and has recently published her third book; “Nutrition for Exam Success – A Parent’s Guide” which is now available as a Kindle and paperback at Amazon. Sign up for the next 14 day nutrition plan for teens at www.nutritionplanforteens.com

Teenage Complaint Solutions! By Maggie Ayre