The airplane trick. Bribery. Begging. Promising sweets in exchange. All tactics used to get kids to eat their veggies. Helpful or harmful?
A recent study raised questions about whether something as fundamentally necessary to one’s health as vegetables should be subject to negotiation of any kind in the home. An article about how to teach kids to eat veggies said this:
“In our household, we focus on providing fresh fruits and vegetables that taste good. Our children eat these foods, because they enjoy them. Humans have evolved to have a quite satisfactory pleasure response to eating in general, and this is easily leveraged to induce healthy eating in children, without resorting to bribes or other cajolery.”
So, you feed them veggies that are well cooked and taste good and they begin eating them. Seems reasonable to me! I always fiddled with my veggie recipes or the way I prepared them if my kids didn’t respond well to a veggie. Sometimes it took trial and error, but I completely agree with him. If you serve them soggy broccoli, they probably will hate it, as I would. But if you serve them veggies that taste great, they’ll more than likely find a veggie or two they really like.
I think constant exposure, quality prep and the occasional negotiation work wonders for getting kids to eat their veggies. What has worked for you? Do you think bribery is a bad way to go? Did you struggle to get your kids to eat veggies?
Talk to me…
~Mavis
Kathie S. says
Hi Mavis!
My son was a slight struggle to get to eat his veggies. For a short time I cut up carrots, peppers, cukes and provided low fat salad dressing to get him to eat it. He liked dipping and it was fun to him. He’s a teen now but a very good veggie eater. My daughter is 8 and LOVES all fruits and veggies. I do agree how the food is prepared makes a big different and if the veggies are in season or fresh. Also, I tried not to push the point too much so it didn’t become a battle of wills. If the kids did not like a veggie I would just try to reintroduce it at a later date. Other kids may turn their noses up to Brussels sprouts or asparagus but mine love them roasted with a little olive oil and maybe some garlic. My daughter gets excited “asparagus-so delicious” she says! 🙂
Linda Sand says
I struggle to get ME to eat my veggies. I recently discovered flavored butters (garlic, lemon dill, tomato, etc.) Top any veggie with wonderful butter and it instantly becomes edible. 🙂
Susan says
My kids are amazing eaters of EVERYTHING! Kale salad? Check. Indian Curry? Check. Some weird thing I created to use up stuff? Check. Bahn Mi? Bring it on. What did I do? Not much. I think they were just born that way, and I deal with different challenges than someone with picky eaters. I have plenty of family members who did everything “right” to encourage healthy eating, and still have super picky eaters. For lots of kids, it seems to be related to sensory issues or even personality (disliking unfamiliar things).
Meal times are a lot of fun since most everyone is pretty happy to be eating (ages 14. 12 and 9). When my nieces come and refuse the quesadilla because it has too much cheese (what?) or turn their nose at any fruit or veggie, it’s hard not to get frustrated. Like I said, I deal with different challenges with my kids!
Alison says
I agree. As I get older and see the differences in my kids, I’m convinced that *ME* doing anything is less of a factor than other things – genetics, personality, etc. That goes for more than just food. It relieves some of the pressure!
Mrs. D says
When my kids were small now 33 and 31, I introduced new things all the time. Usually one bite would be the norm until they were exposed 3-4 times. Just because they don’t ‘like’ it the first time does not mean to stop serving it. After a while they get used to seeing it. My now grown adults are great veggie eaters. I think growing a garden or taking them to the store to pick out “their” vegetable for the week helped a lot. My husband and I said it was okay to stop after one bite if it ‘was not their favorite’ but they were not allowed to use that excuse very often only when truly ‘not their favorite’. My grand daughter is a great veggie eater too. I guess some of those lessons stuck and are now being repeated. Makes me happy. 🙂
Pam says
My daughter has never been a picky eater with veggies or anything else for that matter. While my husband and I both grew up with limited food choices, we are not picky eaters and like a wide range of foods. We never really did anything special but we never made a big deal about it. Just offered a lot of fruits and veggies so I guess she just thought it was normal.
Kristina Seleshanko says
Two tricks that have worked with my kids: Start them early, and on less-sweet veggies. And then, let them help you in the garden (or have their own patch of land); kids are much more excited about eating veggies they grew themselves!
Heather H says
I have nine children, Mavis. I am probably the most pickiest of the family. I was brought up to be picky.
My husband, on the other hand, was brought up in a rather very low-income family, and was taught to appreciate everything he was blessed to eat.
With that said, we require everyone to eat at least a “no thank you” portion of anything I make. It’s not going to kill them. I figure if little Japanese children will eat raw fish, mine can eat squash soup.
On a side note, I heard in a health food lecture last week that it only takes approximately 11 days to change what your tastebuds may not like. Maybe i should try this??
Getting rid of junky, overly-processed, or boxed food also gives children the ability to appreciate real fruits and vegetables!
Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox and go try a raw turnip! Not! P.s. my children love fruits and vegetables.
Jennifer Meyer says
My 2 year old eats veggies just fine for the most part, but won’t eat meat. We mainly eat chichen and he won’t touch it. The only chicken he will eat is bbq chicken off the grill or chickfila. He won’t eat ground hamburger/turkey, but will eat ham and bacon. Maybe me son just decided to be a vegetarian at 2 because he loves animals so much? Haha! Anyone else have this issue?
Dara says
Both my daughters were the same way – I think its a texture thing. I just kept serving them very small portions and encouraging them to eat it. (We have the “5 pea rule” in our house. You have to take 5 small bites of whatever you don’t like before you are considered finished and can leave the table.) They eventually got over the texture issue and now will eat pretty much anything. I have a 5 YO and a 3YO.
Lea says
For my children it was totally a texture thing. Steak? Fine. Ground beef? No. Turkey, chicken, pork? Yep. Ground any of those? Nope. We don’t eat much ground meat in general at our house so exposure was limited but now that they are older (high school) they’re fine.
I always said my children had more “sophisticated” tastes – lobster, salmon, walleye, steak. 🙂
Lea
Leslie says
My little one won’t touch plain meat. But LOVES seasoned meat. Sausage, brats, taco meat, etc. The more flavor, the better. Makes sense to me. Who likes plain meat?
P. D. says
We have 3 kids. The first two kids will try/eat just about anything, including plenty of veggies. Then just as I was metaphorically patting myself on the back for a job well-done and feeling qualified to offer advice to other young moms, along came kid #3… Same gene pool. Same house. Same foods & cooking… And BAM, I’m humbled by Mr Super Picky Eater! I’ve tried so many tricks to get him to eat more variety, including many tactics already mentioned here. Sure made me think about the whole nature vs nurture debate. Kids are all different! And it’s humbling to parent them.
Deborah says
My teenage son (on autism spectrum) is picky about meat too. Chicken tenders (breaded) Shredded bbq chicken and Hamburgers ok, steak or a “piece of chicken”, no. Thanksgiving turkey, no way. Putting it in a bun or tortilla helps with my son. We don’t eat pork, so that’s not an issue.
As far as the veggies, I remember hating green peas, and being made to sit at the table till I ate them. I finally started ‘liking” them with mashed potatoes and gravy. I also didn’t like raisins because I had eaten cookies with them, thinking they were chocolate chips! Now I eat raisins by themselves (not in cookies though!)
Mrs. C. says
I saw a show once that said toddlers have to see a food on average about 8 times before they accept it. They advised putting the same thing (a food you want the toddler to accept) on a young child’s plate – for example, broccoli, ever night until they accept it.
Mrs. C. says
How French children eat:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/karen-le-billion-french-children-eat-anything
katherine says
i have a 4 year old who loves fruits and veggies. i love to cook and she loves to help me. ive always just tried to make delicious food and shes enjoyed it. we are a mostly vegetarian household but lately we have been eating more meat. that she wont really touch. i think i introduced it to late in the game and shes associating it with kiling animals and shes not so keen on that.
Patty P says
My son has been really great about eating veggies his whole life…When he was old enough, we gave him a small garden plot to plant some seeds in. He was so excited to be able to eat veggies from his garden….he was even eating carrots with the dirt still on them!
We always offered veggies with meals and expected that they would be eaten. So far there is only one thing we have found that he doesn’t like (and it’s not a veggie)…raisins! And he’s pretty serious about not liking them too!
Margaret @ Live Like No One Else says
I have 3 sons now almost 18, 15 and almost 12. We’ve always had a rule in our home that regardless of what they are served, they need to at least eat of spoonful of something that they hate. It’s served us well. There are still some struggles with the youngest, but he knows that he is not excused from the table unless he eats a spoonful. Just to get them used to all kinds of foods. It’s worked pretty well. They’ve grown to like some of the things they weren’t crazy about when they were younger.
Angell says
I did all the things you are supposed to do to raise good eaters. But still, both kids don’t like veggies. All I have to say is thank God for the sneaky chef. She’s been life changing for me. (thesneakychef.com)
Tisha says
I do not know if I would call what we do bribery, but we do try and teach balance. The entire family enjoys junk food and sweets on occasion so we have to balance that with what the body needs. One of my children is on the autism spectrum so did have issues with various textures for quite a while and I try to respect that (I have issues with some cooked greens like creamed spinach so I get it). When I know certain foods are often a love it or hate it type, I try to respect that (we love cilantro, beets taste like dirt. I have tried to like them because they are sooo pretty but no dice). I have also made it a point to listen to what the kids say. My youngest son is a super taster. He can detect a spiciness in things like Brussel Sprouts when cooked. He asks me if he can eat them raw and so that I can accommodate, just setting his aside before I cook everyone else’s. I am leery of taking credit for my kid’s reasonably good eating habits. I try to provide good food and educate them on the importance but when they leave the nest, who knows how that is going to work out. One thing that does help sometimes is if there is something on the plate, explain to them the different nutrients in that and what they do for the body.
Deb from SD says
Both of my grandchildren are autistic. I care for them when their mom is at work so we have dinner together five nights a week. The six year old has always been a great vege eater, her nine yr old brother – not so much. He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy. We have greatly improved everyone’s vegetable consumption by gardening together. They both love the gardening process and, with the exception of tomatoes, he ate everything we grew last year. He likes to snuggle up together and look at seed catalogs and we are planning on trying a couple of new things this year. They have a large flower bed as their only growing area, but we managed to get carrots, peppers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash and cucumbers last year. We are growing all the same, plus spinach and parsnips this year. It has been a good, and tasty, experience for all of us.
Marsha says
My kids are 3 and 4. Just constant exposure to a variety of tastes. If they don’t want to eat something, then they skip a meal. We actually started setting a timer for dinner. They know that when that timer goes off, dinner is over, and there is no more food until breakfast. It was rough the first week, but now it’s great! There is no endless picking at their food, but they aren’t shoveling it in, either.
Wendy says
My daughter loves her veggies only if it’s from our garden. She used to not eat any veggies except green beans. Now she snacks from the garden – a little basil, a little peas, spinach, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, etc.
However, we live in an area with a very short garden season, so the rest of the year she doesn’t want veggies. So we got a vitamix and make soup. There’s a tortilla soup that has cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc. in it – throw in a little spinach and it’s all in the broth and she love soup and it’s super healthy.