How to get my child to eat fruits and veggies (again)?
My son just turned 9. When he was much younger, he would eat a variety of fruits and veggies,a well balanced diet. Now he absolutely refuses. Even says things like "bananas are the worst food on earth".
He is offered veggies and fruits with every meal. We even sneak them in spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, have made cauliflower mashed "potatoes". He will eat them if they are disguised. (He will make a fresh fruit smoothie, put all the fruits in the blender and drink it down, but would not touch the same fruits whole)
I do not know when this change occurred. Sometimes I just wonder if he is being contrary and stubborn since he knows that we "want" him to eat them. My daughter luckily continues to eat all that is presented.
Anyone have tips on how to overcome a picky eater?? Other ideas for hiding healthy foods in familiar recipes?
2 Answers
-
My oldest is 5, so I don't have as many years of child-feeding experience to back me up, but in my experience the food-refusal thing seems to come in waves. When my daughter is in a no-veggie funk, I push whatever fruits I can get her to eat. When veggies are cleared for consumption again, I make sure there are lots around. I try not to make myself too crazy about it, because she always floats back toward a decent diet eventually.
It sounds like you already have some good tricks to get nutrition into your child without him resisting, so I'd continue with that. (I do the veggies-in-meatloaf thing, too. Also I've had luck sneaking squash into mac and cheese, which I feed to my husband since my kids can't do dairy and he won't eat his veggies either. The Sneaky Chef has good recipes that are kid-friendly if you are looking for more ideas.) Another idea might be to try different dipping sauces for whatever you want him to eat.
But, in the end, if smoothies and amped-up meatloaf are where it's at, I wouldn't worry too much about it for now. He has a history of eating well, so most likely he'll come back to eating the way he used to eventually. Hope that helps...good luck!
Here's an Amazon.com link for the sneaky chef: http://www.amazon.com/Sneaky-Chef-Strategies-Healthy-Favorite/dp/0762430753/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259804610&sr=8-1
- Steve Lacy, Dec 2, 2009
-
Hiding the veggies sounds brilliant. Doing more fruits while in a no-veggie funk also sounds brilliant.
All I can pass on is a tip I saw on TV - take away the struggles over food by just putting out healthy choices on the table (including some things that you know he'll eat) and letting everyone serve themselves (with no goading or even much discussion about what/how much the kids are taking) and just making sure that the parents are modeling good food habits.
Seems a lot to take on faith, that kids will sort out good food habits on their own if they have good models and good food available, but it might work. The presenter even suggested that kids would figure out that sweeter foods taste better last. She also said that milk and bread gives a kid most of what they need, so don't sweat a day or a week or a month of not-well-rounded eating.
Thanks for the book idea- never heard of The Sneaky Chef! I will look for it!
- Care, Nov 30, 2009