Help! My child won't eat vegetables
"Finish your plate!" Who hasn't heard this when they were little? Usually, it wasn't about the potatoes with gravy or the tasty piece of meat, but the cauliflower, carrots, or Brussels sprouts left wilting on the plate. Children refusing to eat vegetables is a tale as old as time, which can be a tremendous struggle for parents and can turn the evening meal into a real battlefield. Of course, there are ways to help the little ones eat those oh-so-healthy vegetables. But how!?
The 'terrible two's'
When you think everything is going well and you've managed to get your child to eat vegetables without any issues for the first 1.5 years, the toddler phase suddenly kicks in. From around the age of 2, children develop their own will and learn a word that can drive parents to despair: no! Additionally, children around this age have different nutritional needs; their taste changes, but the need for food decreases because your toddler's growth slows down compared to their baby years. The toddler phase lasts about 2.5 years, a period in which you must find the balance between giving your toddler the space to develop their own opinion and setting clear boundaries.
Bury the hatchet
Although food refusal peaks around the toddler phase, older children can also have difficulty eating vegetables. Dinner can become a real battle, especially if every day the focus is on the 'vegetable-eating' deviant behaviour. This makes it an activity associated with negative emotions such as stress, frustration, or anxiety for your child. Not the most conducive situation for developing a taste for vegetables. Therefore, keep the atmosphere pleasant at the table, discuss the day or tell a story so the focus is no longer on eating. Getting angry or pushing generally has the opposite effect and ensures that your child associates eating with negative feelings. Can't make it work? As difficult and contradictory as it may feel, let it go!
Tips to get children to eat vegetables
Naturally, there are several ways to sneak some vegetables in. Vitaminstore has compiled a few tips for you:
- Use a large white plate instead of a small coloured one; this way, a portion of food looks smaller. Research has shown that when a double portion of vegetables is served, up to 68% more is eaten
- Strategically place the vegetables on the plate; close to your child so that little effort is needed to grab them
- Continue to offer vegetables that aren't liked; children can sometimes get used to the taste after 10 to 15 tries
- Involve your child in shopping and meal preparation. There are special wooden 'helper towers' that you can attach to the kitchen counter. This way, your child can watch the food being prepared and might nibble on some vegetables in between.
- Blend vegetables finely into a smoothie, soup or (pasta) sauce
- Cut 'chips' from courgette, carrot or cucumber or make other shapes. Use cookie cutters if necessary.
- Create a picture on the plate with vegetables; a potato as the sun, green beans as grass, Pinterest is full of ideas.
- Make vegetable pancakes with courgette or bake cauliflower buns
- In stores, you can find pasta and pizza bases made from vegetables or wraps made from peppers and beetroot to create colourful dishes.
Dietary supplements are not a replacement for eating vegetables, but do you want to at least give your child a basic intake of vitamins and minerals? Opt for a multi specifically for kids. They come in cheerful colours and shapes and often have a fruity flavour. Solgar offers various multi chewable tablets, such as these with berry flavour, and Viridian has launched a children's multi with an extra small capsule, or you can mix just the powder with the meal.
Written by: Noëlle van Seggelen
