Getting Your Kids to Eat Their Veggies

Wouldn’t it be perfect if your children would wake up one morning and announce, “Mom, Dad…I think today is the day I will begin eating broccoli!”

For most of us, we can be assured that won’t be happening, and sadly so. We know how important it is for our kids to eat healthy, but when they just don’t cooperate, sometimes we are left feeling defenseless.

I completely understand the struggles we parents go through to make our kids eat that first spoonful of sweet peas. Most kids (unless their palates have never tasted a French fry or a slice of chocolate cake with icing), don’t eat their greens without coercion. To further add to our parent guilt, we have all the statistics of the onslaught of children being diagnosed with diabetes due to childhood obesity- which could be a direct result of lack of exercise, poor nutrition, or both. According to USA Today, a study showed that nearly a third of kids under age four eat no vegetables each day. If, as parents, we don’t feel that we have the knowledge, resources, or the stamina we need to make our homes healthy and our meals nutritious, we tend to just give up. After all, life is busy. The days come and go. The kids are swamped in homework or extracurricular activities, and everyone is just plain tired.

The solution: baby steps.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all all deal. It all depends on your family and your circumstances. What works for one family may not work for yours. In fact, one family may be willing to become overnight vegans, while another family may be doing well just to watch their kid wolf down a burger with a piece of lettuce on it. So it’s all bout what works for your family.

While I may not be a nutrition expert, one thing I am learning is how to take responsibility for our family’s nutrition habits. I had a choice!

1. I could either procrastinate, out of fear of facing an uphill battle with my children at mealtimes or…
2. I could resolve to take the first steps to make our family’s nutrition a priority.

I chose the latter.

It certainly puts everything into perspective when we realize that we, the parents, are the prime examples set before our children daily. My kids emulate me, so I hope that I am eating the types of foods I expect them to eat. It also jolts me into reality when I realize that if I want my kids to their veggies, I have to have a plan and set it into motion.

So here was my plan:

This is a learning process for my family, and although we haven’t arrived at any final conclusions, I already feel more confident that we are on the road to healthy eating.

Sure, there will be a trip to Krispy Kreme once in a while or a McDonald’s outing on occasion, but for the most part, while at home, to hope to create an environment where my children will learn to at least try, and eventually enjoy their plate of vegetables.