Sunday, November 16, 2008

Eat Your Fruits and Veggies

By Dane Masters

Most kids would rather eat something like a hamburger than even look at some broccoli. It is hard for children to make food choices thanks to the variety of products that are high in calories and low in vitamins and minerals. This might be the reason why some children become obese. Too many packaged foods are not very healthy for a young child.

How can you incorporate a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables into your child's diet when every other ad they see is for something that is not good for them?

There are many prepackaged healthy food options for fruits and vegetables that your child will like. Carrots and broccoli come in single serving sizes with peanut butter or ranch dressing to spice it up. Dipping food may be an option the child likes.

Involve Your Kids In Meal Planning

The first step to introducing children to more healthy foods is to ask their opinion. Do they prefer bananas to apples? Oranges to grapefruit? Let them be in charge of the fruits and vegetables they eat.

Another option to help children eat fruits and vegetables is to get them in the kitchen with you to find new exciting ways to prepare the food. A fruit salad is an easy way to get kids to eat fruit and it can be a fun way to prepare fruit together. You can cut the fruit into shapes or sprinkle cinnamon or use non-fat whipped cream to help entice children to eat fruit. You can do the same thing with vegetables.

Find new ways to prepare the food. A breakfast quiche could include a few veggies along with the meat and cheese and egg. There are a number of different easy to follow recipes that could help. Also, try checking out some cookbooks that are designed with kids in mind. They might have some fun ideas about how to get children to eat their fruits and vegetables by creating dishes kids love.

It only takes a little extra time and effort to help your child discover the wonderful tastes fruit and vegetables have. It might take some time, but they will soon learn that variety in life can be a very good thing. No more "same old" meals. - 15438

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