Everybody knows just how difficult it is to convince most children to eat their vegetables. For many families, it can be an outright battle of wills between parent and child. With parents who only want their children to eat healthy on one side and children who see vegetables as alien threats to their taste buds on the other, both can end up as losers if they fail to reach a happy compromise.
Involve the Children In Cooking
It has been observed that children readily eat food which they have a hand in making. It is probably the pride of being able to be part of something that has been created. The benefits of eating vegetables can be explained along the way. Seeing the vegetables being transformed into something which will be acceptable to their preference is part of the thrill for children.
Like adults, most children will not allow something which they have cooked to remain untouched if only to show just how good their cooking is. Of course, it would be best to go for vegetable recipes that will most probably encounter the least resistance. Children can progress as there taste buds adjust.
Hiding the Vegetables
When the above option fails, then the good old “hiding the vegetables” scheme in cooking is always something to fall back on. This is essentially a way of coming up with vegetable dishes that will not make the vegetables visible to the child’s eye. This is a way of making children eat healthy without them even being aware of it.
This is done in the hope that children will eventually acquire a taste for vegetables and will ask for them voluntarily. Being parents require people to be more creative in ensuring that their children are adequately fed. Of course, this will require parents to do their cooking while their children are busy doing something else.
Come Up with Creative Dishes
For many children, vegetables do not look appealing enough to be eaten. This is why parents have to find ways to be more creative in their presentations. This is for the obvious purpose of encouraging children to try. From trying, there is hope and expectation that eating vegetables will no longer be forced on children.
The rejection of vegetables can be overcome with a little more creative execution of healthy food. Children’s appetites are wet by visual and olfactory elements more than any other. Healthy food stands more chance of gaining approval from children the moment initial disapproval is hurdled.