It’s a scene as old as time:
Parents shoving veggies onto their kids’ plates, and the children scowling at them like painful blobs of misery—the stuff of nightmares, something to be powered through.
So they come up with all sorts of enchantments to make that yellowish-orange/dark green thing disappear.
“Ubusin mo yan ha! Kung hindi…no iPad.”
“Ubos na po. (Ni bantay.)”
How do you raise a generation of kiddos who can buckle the trend and dote on vegetables as much as bacon?
Here are 7 tips:
#1 Eat vegetables yourself
Yes, the buck starts here.
Do you like vegetables yourself? Or are you the type who gags at the sight of okra and kalabasa?
You’ll never convince your kids that vegetables are good for them when they don’t see it reflected on your plate.
Vegetables have gotten a bad reputation, and parents need to take the stigma from it, setting good examples for healthy eating habits.
Sure, this is not enough to transform your tots, but it’s a good start.
#2 Start early
As soon as your baby can take semi-solid foods (at around 6-8 months), initiate him into the wonderful world of vegetables. It’s the ideal time to introduce him to new tastes and colors.
Start with purees of carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, or peas, and ensure that they’re well-cooked and blended into a smooth consistency.
Starting early allows you to purposefully mold the taste preferences of your child. You broaden his palate, reducing the likelihood of having a picky eater later on.
And by going the vegetable route (instead of sugary foods), you prevent an early preference for sweet flavors, commencing his healthy food journey.
#3 Start small
“My kid is almost 10, is it too late?”
You may already have a picky eater in your hands, who prefers hotdogs and fried chicken, but it’s never too late to point a child to healthier options.
But start small and start slow.
Don’t give a rookie a huge blob of goo that he thinks is hopeless to finish. Start with three pieces of peas for example. Or a tiny slice of carrot or potato.
Parents have an understandable tendency to overload plates that kids get turned off just by the idea of finishing it. Start small, ridiculously small—something unthreatening, equivalent to a single teaspoon that can be had in one go.
And remember, not all veggies are created equal. If the first gulay you introduce your kid to is the ampalaya, you would have scarred that kid for life and closed the door on the world of vegetables. You’ve unwittingly given it a bad name and all the others become guilty by association.
Start with mild and sweet varieties. Try sweet potatoes and squash, for example.
The green ones, especially those dark green ones, are usually bitter and could enter later in the process. They may taste perfectly fine for an adult whose tastes have evolved, but they will be too bitter for kiddos.
Watch out for texture as well. The slick and slimy characteristic of okra, for example, can be a turn-off for many.
#4 Play with the food
We have been admonished not to play with our food. (Something to do with the millions of starving children in Africa.)
But by having a playful vibe, you might just erase the stigma on vegetables and tempt your child to give them a shot.
And it’s not like you’re starting from square one. Vegetables are some of the most colorful and pliable materials around. They’re nature’s art. And in the hands of a creative parent, you can easily make them visually appealing.
Any food critic will say that you eat with your eyes first. (And there are no critics more severe than kids.)
Can cut them into various shapes. You can cut them into spirals, julienne, or into cookie-cutter forms of hearts, stars, animals, and letters.
Then you can play around with arrangements—from rainbow platters, and rainbow skewers, to some of the most intriguing salad combos.
Think of the orange carrots, purple cabbage, yellow corn, green lettuce, and red tomatoes and you have a palette of edible fun.
#5 Pair with their favorites
You can embed veggies in foods your child already loves.
You can add tiny bits in the spaghetti sauce, or sprinkle various colors to your omelet. Pancake batter, smoothies, and dips can be blended with bits or pureed veggies, giving a nice flavor twist to old classics.
You can also make thin slices of eggplant, carrots, or potato, even kangkong, and turn them into chips.
But you don’t always have to smuggle vegetables onto plates and bowls. Sometimes it’s better to highlight them.
Let your kid realize that veggies are part of the food that he thinks is delicious. Point out the veggies in the toppings of his pizza or the burritos in his hand.
He’ll realize that he’s been eating vegetables all his life and that he likes them.
#6 Involve them in prep
Kids become fans of their work. That’s why they insist that you stick their artwork on fridge doors. There’s pride and ownership of output, regardless.
So let the kids help you in prepping veggies for meals.
This starts with a nice trip to the grocery or market, where they get to pick out the veggies. Make a day of it and turn the trip into a learning experience as well as a bonding moment.
(If you can let them experience harvest, so much the better. The humble kamote ceases to be any kamote once they’ve done the harvesting themselves.)
Then let them assist you in the kitchen. Nothing fancy or dangerous. For example, you can them to remove the malunggay leaves from their stems, or tear sheets off the head of a lettuce or cabbage. Encourage them to munch on a piece or two while at it.
Seeing how a salad is made, or how a soup becomes such, they will take ownership of it.
And once on the table, they will swear it’s the best ginataang kalabasa they’ve ever tasted!
#7 Be consistent
Finally, keep at it.
The lifelong habit of healthy eating is not established overnight.
This is a long-term thing—an ongoing dance that takes years of exposure, parental modeling, and molding.
So if your kids don’t want to eat a certain crop, then try something else. He’s bound to like one or two.
You’ll find that the more you put veggies front and center, the harder it is for unhealthy food to occupy their minds. Make it ubiquitous, a daily thing, and eating vegetables just becomes “the thing we do.”
So keep at it.
Good luck!
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