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Veggie Wails
Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables Without the Whine
By Crystal Patriache
According to Dole Food Company, the company who founded the "5 A Day" program, eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day provides a variety of health benefits, including the promotion of good health and a reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
The "5 A Day" program is aimed toward children and adults, and is backed by all national health authorities including the surgeon general of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Public Health Service, the United States Department of Agriculture, the American Cancer Society, the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Heart Association.
"We are lucky enough that our daughter likes broccoli," says Ana Montano of Scottsdale, Ariz., mother of 3-year-old Sofia. "We tell her that they are little trees, and she likes that."
"I give my kids lots of raw veggies to eat for snacks – they love green beans, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers (all different colors), broccoli, cauliflower, peas, snow peas," Pressendo says. "I let them pick what they want. A mixture is really colorful and fun."
Celery sticks with peanut butter or dipping raw veggies in ranch dressing works for my daughter, but kids are all different.
"I sometimes can get Hailey to eat veggies by cutting them into bite-size pieces and giving her a toothpick to pick them up with," says Janese Ritter, mother of three in Gilbert, Ariz. "She seems to think the toothpick is more fun than a fork. She especially likes the fancy toothpicks with the colorful wrap on one end."
"Syd loves her veggies!" says Christine Schmid of Glendale, Ariz., mother to 10-month-old Sydney. "When introducing her to table foods, her pediatrician recommended feeding her meat and veggies before fruit. He said if kids get a taste for sweet stuff first, they'll never want the meat and veggies. I'm not sure if this made a difference, but she eats great!" On days when Sydney seems to prefer fruit, Schmid mixes the meat and veggies together and alternates with one spoonful of fruit, then one spoonful of meat/veggie.