Masking vegetables in the child's favorite dishes, serving them beautifully, putting cartoons during meals - parents go to all sorts of tricks to get the baby to eat healthy broccoli. How can you help your baby to love the taste of vegetables? Read our tips.
Statistics show that only 40% of Russian children eat vegetables every day, and even in quantities that are considered the norm. It is difficult to blame the parents for this, because persuading a child to try mashed cauliflower or boiled beet salad is a real challenge. Fortunately, the problem can be fixed.
1. Use the rule 10 times
Parents of three-year-old children most often complain about the child's complete refusal from vegetables. Their problem is that they lost time and did not introduce the baby to various tastes at the stage of introducing complementary foods or gave up too early, faced with the reluctance of the crumbs to eat any product. New flavors should be offered at least 10 times: if the first 9 times the child will grimace and spit out broccoli, the chances are increased that in the end he will still happily eat it.
2. Experiment with food consistency, plate color and depth
There is another common reason why children do not want to eat vegetables - they are simply not familiar with the consistency of a dish that is new to them. Perhaps your favorite cookies are crunchy, but pumpkin porridge is not. To solve the problem, in this case, you need to gradually offer the child food of different consistency - jelly, mashed potatoes, pieces of vegetables, soft, hard, oily food.
By the way, scientists have proved that subconsciously food of red and orange colors seems more attractive to people, and green food is the opposite. Therefore, first, give your baby vegetables of "attractive" shades: carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes. Then gradually add the rest to his diet.
In addition, children are more likely to eat from small deep plates than from large and wide ones. Color is also important - it is better for the child's plate to be yellow, orange or red.
3. Offer vegetables without coercion
In no case do not give your child ultimatums ("until you eat everything, you will not leave the table") and do not resort to blackmail ("if you do not finish mashed potatoes, you will not get candy"). The rule of “one bite” is much more effective: make an agreement with the baby to try just one piece of broccoli and describe its taste, even if he doesn't swallow it if he doesn't want to. The taste can be changed with seasonings and various additives. So, vegetables become more appetizing when animal fats are added to them - cheese, butter, sour cream.
Control serving size. Better let the baby asks for a supplement than immediately lose his appetite, seeing a huge portion for him that he cannot overpower.
4. Start every meal with vegetables
Remember yourself: when you are hungry, even the dishes you hate start to taste more delicious to you. After satisfying the acute feeling of hunger, this amazing effect no longer works. Therefore, always start your meal with a vegetable stew, soup, salad, or casserole. For a start, it is enough if the crumb eats at least a couple of spoons - this is already better than nothing.
5. Give up sweets, cookies, nuts
This is a commonplace, but quite effective measure. When there is a choice between a sweet glazed donut and an apple, the donut is hard to resist. If there are cucumber, tomato and carrot on the plate, the chances that the child will still taste the vegetables increase dramatically. So it's better to give up sweets, pastries, salted nuts, chips.
By the way, you can make tasty and healthy chips from vegetables that your baby will definitely like. They are easy to make at home - just place slices of courgettes, carrots, pumpkin or beets on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, add a little seasoning, and bake at low heat until crispy. Store in an opaque sealed jar.
6. Lead by example
Eat with the crumb, show that you enjoy the taste of vegetables, say how you like them. Set not only your own example, but also an example from the outside. So, in the United States, during the popularity of the cartoon about the sailor Popeye, children began to eat spinach more willingly. This is because canned spinach gave this character superpower.
Watch movies and cartoons about food with children, read fairy tales. Their choice is huge: "Ratatouille", "Cloudy, with a chance of precipitation in the form of meatballs", episodes "Smeshariki", "Masha and the Bear". It all depends on the age and interests of your child.
7. Cook vegetables with chicken or meat
If a vegetable side dish is cooked with meat or chicken, it becomes even tastier, saturated with the aroma of herbs and spices, as well as meat juice. It is highly likely that the baby will not just eat such a dish without whims, but even ask for a supplement.
Try experimenting with serving as well. With the help of vegetables you can turn a chicken leg into a funny crayfish, mashed potatoes into hedgehogs, and a salad will become more attractive for a child if it is served in a “glass” of bell pepper.
- How to teach a child to eat vegetables: 8 simple ways
- 9 tips to help your child love healthy food
