Eating Fruits and Vegetables

As a parent, you understand how important it is for your kids to eat right. The problem is, sometimes kids don’t see it that way. It can be a real struggle to get little ones to eat the right things, especially fruits and vegetables. This is especially true if you have a picky eater on your hands!

But don’t worry, I am here to give you a couple of tips and tricks to make sure your kiddos not only eat their f’s and v’s but also understand why they should eat them. Sound good? Alright then, let’s get to it!

Why We Need Fruits and Vegetables

The short answer as to why we all need to eat fruits and vegetables is that they are super healthy. They don’t contain a ton of sugar or calories, but they are packed with nutrients and fiber that our bodies need to function properly.

For little kids, fruits and vegetables provide the necessary nutrients and proteins for their bodies to develop properly, which is why it is so important that they get enough of them in their daily diet.

Start Them Young

There is perhaps a no better way to get kids to eat their fruits and veggies than by introducing them at an early age when they are still babies. That way, they’ll have been exposed to it before they really start to show any food preferences. You should probably start with fruits, rather than veggies since they are a bit sweeter.

Don’t Be Afraid to Mix and Match

As I said, fruits are usually an easier sell with little ones than veggies, since they usually have a sweeter taste. When your kids are still babies, don’t be afraid to mix the two to help build up their tolerance for vegetables. As they get older, you can mix their fruits into parfaits and their veggies into salads. Yum!

Ways to Get Older Children to Try More Fruits and Vegetables

Let’s say you weren’t able to introduce fruits and veggies to your kid as a baby, or perhaps they didn’t ever really take after them as you had hoped. There are a couple of things that you could try to get them eat these healthy foods. First, search for recipes that you know they’ll like and stick to some basic ingredients. You don’t want to try anything too fancy or different looking. If you do, you are guaranteed to have a food struggle on your hands.

Something else that you could try is to talk to your kids about why eating these types of foods is so important. If you are looking for a good way to get the conversation going, reading a book is a great starting point.

Check out our book "I Love to Eat Fruits and Vegetable" (available in more than 30 languages)

Books like this one will help to inform and engage your little one that they can learn about and understand the importance of eating these extra healthy foods. 

Find What They Like and Stick to It

Once you have found a fruit or vegetable that your kids will eat regularly, don’t be afraid to serve it up to them often. Even though it would be ideal for them to eat a variety, there is nothing wrong with eating the same vegetable or fruit all of the time either. As long as they are eating something healthy, you can consider it a parenting win!

Delicious!

Hopefully, some of the tips and tricks on this blog will help you to get your little ones to eat all of their fruits and veggies joyfully.