Getting kids to eat healthy

My daughter is 5 now, and over the years, I've been asked how I get her to eat healthy. At one time, I thought I had this nailed, but then I had my son, and my daughter has been heavily influenced by preschool snacks and birthday parties. It's not so easy anymore.

The 5-year-old
When it comes to getting your kids to eat healthy, giving them good food from the beginning is always the easiest way to avoid fights. My daughter ate almost everything except for white potatoes and green beans as a baby. Even now, she will eat most fruits and vegetables, but she's getting pickier (or maybe just being difficult for fun, who knows). She wants most vegetables raw, food separated and no heavy spices or sauces. Sounds pretty normal, so I accommodate.

The problem we run into now is snacks. She wants the junk food she gets in school for snacks and will pick that over the healthy stuff. I explain why we have to eat the good stuff, but I don't feel like I'm getting through to her as much as I used to. Now that she's getting more independent and going places without me, I am more nervous about the choices she will make. I am hoping that having grown up with real food, the "edible food-like substances" (check out Michael Pollan for more on that term) she gets at school and parties won't have as much appeal.   

The toddler
My son is about a year and a half, and he's been much more challenging when it comes to food. He wants meat, fruit and carbs mostly. I might be the strange one, but I just couldn't understand last night why he didn't want to eat the pureed eggplant creole I made.

He'll eat most any fruit, but vegetables are tough. I think he may be like the rest of my family and only eat raw veggies, but he doesn't have enough teeth to chew them yet. For now, I have to cover green vegetables in cheese to get him to eat them -- compromise accepted. He likes sweet potatoes, butternut squash and zucchini. That seems to be about it. I hide other vegetables in sauces and smoothies, or make combinations he can tolerate such as mashed potato and cauliflower.

Tips I've learned
I'm still learning a lot about how to feed the kids. Here's a few lessons I've learned, and I'd love to have more to add to this list from other parents.

"Do as I say, not as I do" won't fly
Make sure you're modeling the choices you want your kids to make, and keep the junk out of the house (or hidden). You can't expect your kid to eat carrot sticks while you're noshing on cookies. So keep the cookies hidden on the top shelf and stuff your face after they go to bed.

Dip it

Little kids especially love dipping, so try nut butters, mustard, yogurt, hummus, pasta sauce, or salad dressing along with fruits and vegetables to get them to try new things or eat more.

Make it fun

Pizza, tacos and quesadillas are great ways to get veggies in kids. Make pizza night or taco night an event at home. Pitas, flatbread, English muffins and bagels are fun choices for individual pizzas. Have a range of veggies (broccoli, spinach, artichokes, mushrooms, bell peppers) and meat, and let your child pick her own toppings.

Same for taco night. Some ideas are cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms, black beans, and corn. Remember to pile the veggies on your own pizza and tacos as well.

Keep trying

Don't give up. The experts say it takes something like 10 or 11 tries before a kid will accept a new food. Space out the introduction of new foods, and mix it up in fun ways. If your child is older, take him to the grocery store and let him pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try.

Hide the vegetables

Puree vegetables in things your child likes such as pasta sauce. Offer pureed vegetable soups with bread for dipping. Make fruit smoothies with veggies mixed in. Easy vegetables for smoothies are softened carrots or sweet potatoes, greens, beets and cucumbers.

Get the kids involved

Let your kids help with the grocery shopping and cooking. Ask them what they want to eat and try to accommodate in a healthy way.

Watch your tone and set the expectation

Trying new foods and recipes is fun! Share that enthusiasm with the kids.

Offer healthy choices with an even tone. Try not to sound like you're expecting them to say "no." Give them choices between two things you find acceptable.

Bribe them

If all else fails, bribery usually works. Put the broccoli on the plate first, and only when that's gone do you get the mac and cheese. I keep dessert treats at home that I approve of, and if the plate is clean, they get dessert. But only if the plate is clean!


What works for you? What do you do to combat the influences of school, parties and commercials?