A mother’s plea: Eat your vegetables

Summer means many things. School’s out, warmer weather and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from. Most kids like fruit, often called “nature’s candy.”

Many fruits are sweet, and they come with their own “wrappers” (the peel). But what about vegetables? If you ask a child what his or her favorite vegetable is, you’ll likely get something like “potatoes,” “corn” or “French Fries.”

It would be a rare child indeed who answered with Brussel sprouts, turnips or rutabagas. We as adults know vegetables are good for us, and they are good for children, too.

So what do you do with a child who doesn’t like or refuses to eat any vegetable at all, unless it is deep-fat fried or covered in cheese sauce?

First, don’t panic. There are ways to “sneak” more vegetables into your child’s diet, and there are ways to “train” them to eat vegetables. No child ever died from not eating enough vegetables.

Start out by trying to include your child in the shopping or meal planning activities. Vegetables can be incorporated into casseroles, smoothies, pasta sauces, soups and quick breads.

Many children will eat raw vegetables before they eat the same vegetable cooked. Raw carrots, served with low-fat Ranch dressing, seem to be more palatable than cooked carrots.

If you don’t want the fat associated with regular French fires, try making your own at home. Toss sliced potatoes in a little oil, add salt and pepper and roast them in the oven until tender. No one will miss the fat.

Many vegetables lend themselves well to “hiding.” A child that wouldn’t think of touching spinach on its own will drink down a smoothie because all of a sudden it is a Popeye Power Smoothie. Believe it or not, vegetables like kale, red pepper and even beets can make their way into a blender to create a nutritious nutrient-dense drink. The kids won’t even know they’re there. Really.

Incorporating vegetables into muffins, quick breads, soups and some casseroles (such as lasagna) and sauces (think spaghetti here, with some chopped up zucchini), is also a way to serve vegetables to children who might not otherwise find them appealing.

For many children it usually takes them an average of seven times tasting something new before they will even swallow it. They may first roll it around on their plate and stab it with their fork.

They will hold it up close to examine it and maybe even smell it. Then, maybe, they will put it on the tip of their tongue. Next, it may or may not go in their mouth. After that, if it goes in their mouth, they may or may not chew it.

If they do chew it, it may get spit right back out. Eventually, though, they may swallow said food item. It will be a small bite. It will be a small victory, too, but a victory is a victory.

The “one bite” rule can also be affective, but don’t force it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t!. Tell children they have to eat one bite of something they may not have tried or have tried in the past but haven’t liked. If they do, they can do something they like to do, like an extra hour to read before bed or getting a sticker.

Whatever the reward, it should be nonfood related (don’t offer an extra helping of dessert, for example). However, don’t confuse “one bite” with “be a member of the clean plate club.” Setting up the dinner table as a battle field will only result in negative attitudes toward food and serve to make the dining experience unpleasant for everyone. And you will not win.

Finally, recognize getting children to eat vegetables is an up and down sort of thing. If you remain relaxed, patient and persistent and look at their intake over a week or month at a time, you will see they are taking in more than you may think. If they are growing, healthy, happy and playing, they are getting all they need.

And isn’t that what’s it’s all about?

Ann Bloom is a nutrition program assistant for the OSU Extension Service in Wallowa County.