Wondering how to get kids to eat vegetables? If you struggle with picky eaters, we have some tips to make meal times easier (and healthier!)
Are you wondering how to get kids to eat more vegetables and other healthier foods? Do you struggle with picky eaters? One study found that how to get kids to eat vegetable might be as simple as just letting them be kids. Let them play before eating!
According to this article from TreeHugger, kids that get to play before eating are likely to eat a wider variety of healthy foods and to waste less food:
Moving recess to before lunch increased consumption of fruits and vegetables by “0.16 servings per child”, which might sound small, but it represents a 54% increase, which is huge; [it also] increased the number of children eating at least one serving of fruits or vegetables by 10% points.
In addition to all the extra produce eaten by the kids, there was also a 40% decrease in food waste.
Both of these results make a lot of sense. After playing, kids are more likely to be hungry and willing to eat more foods, and more importantly, they are not rushing to go play. The author Michael Graham Richard also suggests that if parents have a set time frame for meals (like at school), they will be more successful in feeding the kids well, compared to letting kids get up as soon as they finish their meals.
Another great tip for how to get kids to eat vegetables is to have them help with growing food. Even the US government knows that getting kids to eat more veggies means getting them in the garden. Getting them in on the cooking can also make them more excited about eating their vegetables, because they have an investment in the dish that they helped make.
If you’ve got kids, we’ve got all sorts of other tips for feeding them well:
+ Healthy Eating Tips for Baby’s first Foods
+ Feeding your kids ‘adult’ foods instead of ‘kid’ food
+ And to finish the list: 7 Tips to get you kids to eat healthier
Tomato girl image from Shutterstock
Leave a Reply