Most of us struggle to provide a balanced nutritional diet for our kids. Kids are usually driven towards fatty junk foods and sweets. They always want fried, crispy, and fatty foods like burgers, pizzas, chips, and soft drinks. Although these foods are tasty and provide an instant gratification for the kids, they might not be beneficial in the long run. First and foremost, these foods will not meet the nutritional needs of the kids, and secondly, they cause different lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes, blood pressure and heart problems. Thus, shifting to vegetables is quite imperative. 

The Importance of Including Vegetables in your Kids’ Diet

Vegetables provide a necessary supply of nutrients like vitamins, minerals and fiber. On the other hand, when compared to other foods, they are low in calories and fat. Although they are healthy, they might not be necessarily tasty. This makes it a challenging task for parents to convince their children to have vegetables. Thus, it is important to look for fun and creative ways to get your kids to eat these wholesome foods. 

Top 10 Tips to Help your Kids Eat Vegetables Daily

Negotiate and Compromise

If your child is very much adamant of having a burger or a sandwich, try loading it with more veggies. For instance, you should tell your kid that he can have a burger on a condition that he should also have the veggies in it, or at least a portion of salad along with it. You can dish out their favorite foods with a lenient dash of vegetables. However, make sure that you are not overdoing it and killing the taste. Try to add a balanced measure and keep the taste intact. This will slowly develop their taste for vegetables. 

Explore Interesting Recipes 

Vegetables do not have to taste raw or awful. There are many ways to dish out tasty and mouthwatering dishes using vegetables. You can easily find many such recipes online. For instance, you can blend different recipes into smoothies or even fruit bowls. This will not just create a change in their diet patterns, which grabs their attention, but also convince them to eat the same dish repeatedly for a good amount of time. Additionally, you can also include kids in this activity. Ask them to search and choose a vegetable dish that they want to try. This makes them a part of the process, which can be fun. As they select the dish, they will have a sense of responsibility to eat and finish it too.

Create Habits or Rituals

Rituals and habits are the things we do as we are supposed to do, and not necessarily what we like to do. In the same way, you should develop habits in your kids where they find it as a task to eat vegetables. For instance, make them have a few portions of sprouts before going to school. This will later develop as a daily ritual. You can also replace sprouts with other healthy alternatives. 

Involve them in the Preparations

Did you know that cooking with vegetables can actually be fun? Yes, you can involve your kids in the kitchen to perform small tasks like peeling the peas, cleaning leafy greens, or even cutting vegetables. This will engage the kids with vegetables while cooking and have a strong emotional attachment with the dish they have helped. This will also motivate them to try and eat the dish with keen interest as they were a part of the whole process. You can also slowly make them eat raw vegetables like carrots, cucumbers and other veggies during the preparation process.

Pick Out their Favorites 

Selecting the right vegetables that your kids like is the first step. Make sure your kids pick their favorite vegetables. On the other hand, it is also important to make sure that you keep the portion size small and not overdoing it. An overdose of any vegetable in the beginning may just make your kids rebellious. So, figure out the vegetables your kids like and start with smaller portions. 

Look for Influencers

Identify characters like superheroes or cartoon characters or even people in your social circle that your kids look up to. It can be a character from their favorite TV show, someone in the school, or a sports model they like. Instill a feeling that they like vegetables and are in that position as they eat a lot of veggies. This is also a great way to help them have a different perspective of veggies. 

Lead by Example

It is also important for the parents to lead by example. Make sure you are also eating your fair share of veggies along with them or in their presence. Eating veggies before proceeding into the main meal can be a good idea. 

Reward Them for their Efforts

Rewarding good behavior can have long lasting effects. This also helps them to make it a long lasting habit. The reward can be as simple as a pat on the back or a round of applause when the kid finishes the veggies. Reinforcing this right from early childhood can help them to develop a habit of eating healthy. The rewards can also be in the form of an extra playtime, extra screentime or even their favorite toy once a while. However, greater rewards should have greater importance. For instance, you can get them their favorite toy if they complete a whole month eating their veggies. 

Make Vegetables as a Part of Everyday Meal

As mentioned earlier, eating vegetables is a great way to help your child get all the nutrients they need on a daily basis. Thus, you should try incorporating vegetables in every meal possible. With some basic planning, making vegetables a part of every diet can be simple. You can either include them in raw form as salad or simply cook them with other dishes. 

Have Patience

Last but not least, it is important for you to have patience as a parent. As kids are not used to having vegetables, you should have patience to introduce new vegetables slowly. Do not force them, and start adding small amounts of vegetables into their favorite dishes. This will make sure you do not have to cook up a complete recipe every time.

Innovative Veggie Snacks from Healthy Master

Healthy Master understands the need of both kids and parents and is providing a list of innovative product ranges that are both healthy and tasty. All these snacks are nutritiously curated to help them snack without compromising on taste. For instance, when it comes to veggies, you will find many creative options like baked beetroot chips and baked palak chips that most kids love to eat due to its crunchy texture. There are also many other healthy snacks that you can find in the store. 

Conclusion

There is no doubt that introducing vegetables in your kids’ diet can be challenging. However, with some planning and tips, you can make the whole process fun and stress free. Make sure you try these tips and let us know what you think. Also feel free to comment and help us with more creative tips to make your life as well as your loved ones’ life healthy.