How can i get my 7yr old to eat vegetables?

colmranger

I have 7yr and an 8yr old sons.

They are like chalk and cheese, the elder is a great eater and eats everything put on his plate including all veg.

The 7yr old is totally opposite. He eats very little and it's hard to get him to eat anything healthy especially vegetables.

Has anyone got any tips on how to teach him healthy eating habits like his father and brother?

OTK

If my kid refuses food there is no fuss but also no alternative. He gets nothing. At the next meal his tastes become much more broad. Children these days are at more risk of obesity than being underweight. So long as you know your child is not underweight there is no point in indulging food preferences or engaging in food drama.

luckat

Is maith an t-anlann an t-ocras... bring him out for a good walk before the meal, and present vegetables that he's bound to like.

Some kids taste particular vegetables as very bitter - I remember my own hatred of spinach as a child, can't yum it up enough now. Apparently it's genetic, but it tends to change with maturation of the taste buds.

Suggestions:

* Give him glazed carrots - put peeled, chopped carrots in a pot, cover with boiling water with a dash of butter or olive oil, salt and a good big spoon of sugar, and let the water boil away till the carrots are cooked and have a sweet glaze on them.

* Make mashed potatoes (use a good slosh of olive oil so you can use less butter: steam the spuds, then rub the skins off with your rubber gloves off to save the hands, and mash them into warm milk cooking on the stove; when the milk has been absorbed, ad a nice slosh of olive oil and some salt, and take off the heat and mash till really soft and un-lumpy).

* If he likes the mashed potatoes, sometimes add some carrots or turnip to the mash.

* Make lantulaatikko - steam chopped turnips, and when they're soft, mash them with butter, cream and golden syrup, beat in an egg and a dash of ginger and cook in a buttered casserole for 20 minutes or so.

* Stir-fry broccoli and cashew nuts: heat up oil in a wok, throw in a handful of unsalted cashew nuts and as they're going golden add florets of broccoli; now throw on a half-cup or so of mixed water, soy sauce and honey, and cover the pot; cook for just about 30 or 40 seconds. The broccoli should be tender and bitey, not too crunchy but certainly not limp and grey.

* Cabbage: chop the cabbage and wash in salted cold water, then put it in a hot pot on the stove with a knob of butter, cover and cook for maybe 5 or 10 minutes, till it's sweet, turning it every now and again. Then squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, cover again and turn off the heat so the lemonyness goes through it.

If he doesn't like any of these, don't get into a fuss about it. Start by getting interested in what tastes he *does* like, and tasting different things with him, and talking about it. Turn him gradually into a gourmet by giving tiny tastes of different things: "Try this, it's *horrible*!" - "Try this, I really like this one!" - and as he gets interested in adventuring with the taste buds he'll widen his tastes naturally.

Another small point; lots of kids who don't like cooked vegetables will be quite happy to eat raw ones if they're just presented there on a plate while they're playing or working - thin-cut carrot sticks, the very heart of celery, raw broccoli, etc. And if he says "I really *hate* this", don't panic, use it as a chance to explore how things taste for him and you.

Dan133269

I certainly wouldn't advise adding extra sugar or salt to a children's diet luckat, they get more than enough sugar as it is.

One way I think is good is to try and change your child's mentality by telling him his role model (some footballer, wrestler or whoever it is) loves having vegetables after he comes back from training, tell him you saw it on television. It worked on me as a child.

luckat

Suppose it depends on how much sugar and salt is in the kids' diet in the first place, Dan. If they're fed lots of packaged supermarket food and sweets, of course adding extra would be too much. If not, not.

fred funk }{

My little girl used to be a terrible eater, wouldn't eat any veg except Mash potatoes. I started making little 'deals' with her. I'd bribe her, tell her I'd bring her to the shop if she'd only "taste" the food and that she didn't have to eat it. She started tasting for me but would spit it back out but we still made a fuss over her telling relatives and friend how good she was in front of her.

Very shortly afterwards she discovered that she actually liked some vegetables, now she eats Carrots, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower (by the bowl). She doesn't like Turnip on its own so we mix it with Mash potatoes and call it orange mash and she eats it.

I did the same with meat too, she used to only eat Chicken. Now she eats Pork and ham, she hates Beef but she knows that's OK because she tried it and doesn't like it. She will always taste things for me now and she knows that (according to our deal) she can spit it out if she doesnt like it.

We have another child (boy) and he's the complete opposite, he eats everything. Best of luck .

spurious

Let the child help with choosing, preparing and cooking the vegetables. He could maybe even grow a couple of carrots for himself in a pot.

ArthurDent

My kids love home made meatballs in tomato sauce - they have no clue that the meatballs contain carrot and onion(if beef) and apple, carrot and onion if chicken and the tomato sauce has buckets of veggies all pureed up together - carrots, peppers, spinach. You might want to try this.
AD

ArthurDent

Also my 5 year old will eat anything covered ina creamy sauce - so this is what we serve with Broccoli or spinach.
Also we let them make their own pizza

Home made tomato sauce (full of sneaky veggies;) and then a load of veggies chopped up to put on top - sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers etc - if they have control over it, you'd be amazed what they will actually put on their own food.

Another "trick" we have is to let them serve up their own dinner (generally put the meat on the plate before brining it to table and then have all the veggies on the table and agree beforehand that they are going to try 1,2 3 etc things off the table ( make sure there is at least 1 thing you know they love).At first our 5 year old would only choose beans (every night for about 2 weeks!!!!) but know he will go for brocolli, tomatoes, peas and sweetcorn

eamon234

I always hated Veg too until recently which used to drive my wife mad as she's a Chef - we also have a 7 year old girl and we find that stir frying or roasting veg is much nicer and tastier especially carrots and brocolli just get a wok pour some Olive oil some sea salt and a little cracked pepper with a little basil (dried is fine) fry them up for a few minutes and pop them into the oven for an hour - lovely - plus it's much more aromatic our daughter loves veg cooked this way as opposed to ordinary boiled veg wich in fairness looks and smells horrible - avoid cauliflower - it's disgusting kids hate it and I can't blame them!
For roasting cut the vegetables large and chunky and for stir fried nice and thin so they're crunchy -also try things like sweet and sour or mild curry - they hardly even notice the veg in those

Sleepy

Purely anecdotal but my younger brother was like your son as a child, wouldn't eat anything but rice krispies or pasta with heinz ketchup. No matter what my mother tried to get him to eat he wouldn't eat it. Skip forward 16 years and he's the healthiest eater of the lot of us. He's just naturally a grazer than someone who has "three square meals" (and from everything I've read, this is the healthiest way to eat contrary to popular belief). Maybe your son is like this too? Try make sure you don't have loads of sugary/unhealthy snacks in the house and allow him to eat when he's hungry, but only healthy things?

deisemum

My 9 year old will not eat any fruit or veg and believe me I've tried everything. He wouldn't eat meat when he was younger but I didn't make an issue of it and he's gradually improving. I think he doesn't like bland food like roast chicken but seems to prefer stronger flavours like bbq or mexican flavours without a sauce.

I was able to disguise some veg and fruit without him realising until I won the Birds Eye Expert Mum Nutrition Mission last year which attracted a lot of media attention. He heard some of the radio interviews and read some of the newspaper and magazine articles and since finding out what was hidden he refuses to eat these meals.

Juices and smoothies are another way of getting some fruit and veg into them.

He is soccer mad and wants to be a footballer for ManU so I tell him Wayne Rooney (his idol) eats lots of fruit and veg. Hopefully it will have an effect in the long term.

My 11 year old loves veg especially broccoli but he prefers raw carrots to cooked ones. He plays rugby and when he won a training session with some of the Irish rugby players there was a talk on nutrition and the importance of eating a healthy diet. Hearing sporting heros like the lovely Jerry Flannery (lol) seems to have a big influence. Also at the rugby summer camps they teach the children the importance of a healthy diet which I think is a very good idea.

I know when I was younger even in my teens I couldn't stand cucumber or most salad stuff, now I love it. I enjoy a lot of things that I didn't when I was younger.

daiixi

As a kid I was a fussy eater and used to cover anything I would eat in tomato sauce before I'd eat it.
My older sister will eat anything you put in front of her and my brother was always and still is a really fussy eater, he rarely likes anything new he tries to eat. However we're all still pretty healthy although I rarely eat tomato sauce now!
Just don't force your child to eat. Kids will eat when they're hungry enough.
My parents physically forced me to eat when I was younger and it was just an unpleasant experience for everyone. I still can't eat fish. I actually don't mind most fish nowadays but the whole idea of eating it is just unpleasant. Now when I go out and fish is being offered I just say I'm allergic so I don't have to eat it!

Stabshauptmann

Everyone in my family stated off being a picky eater (7 of us) untill we went to college, at which point *anything* would do - gladly.

I cant believe now that I used to refuse what are now some of my favourite meals.

myjugsarehuge

Same situation here, my daughter will try & eat most things. My son never ate green vegetables as a young child only carrots & potatoes, if there was single pea on his plate he'd leave it. I was forced to eat food I didn't like by my parents & hated them for it, I swore I'd never do the same to my kids.

He was always at the lower end of the centile chart for his age but the health visitor wasn't worried & he grew steadily & was never ill, no chest infections/earaches, in fact neither of them have ever had antibiotics in their lives.

Now he is a healthy, fit 13 year old who loves my cooking & can cook well himself so he won't ever starve hopefully. He eats lots of fruit, cheese & cereals so I'm not worried about lack of vitamins. Last year he decided he'd try peas again & likes them now (albeit with gravy in a roast dinner but its a start). One day soon it may be cabbage who knows?

I couldn't eat mushrooms till I was 37, the texture & taste put me off, now I love them. My mother smiled indulgently when I told her of my new found love of a previously hated food. I even cook wild ceps/chanterelles when I'm lucky enough to find them locally.

Some children naturally eat less than others, as long as the OPs child is eating fruit & an otherwise balanced diet without too much processed food and is growing at the appropriate centile for his age, I'd be inclined not to force the issue to much.

Owen

28 here, and was the world's fussiest child. I still won't eat meat with fat or bones in it, go fig! But I do eat every vegetable under the sun. It just takes longer for some people.

Oul Wan

Neither of my children would eat veg until I made soup with them (the vegetables, not the kids). So now I'll make soup before the dinner and they'll have potato with their meat.

Beruthiel

luckat wrote:

* Give him glazed carrots - put peeled, chopped carrots in a pot, cover with boiling water with a dash of butter or olive oil, salt and a good big spoon of sugar.

I wouldn't recommend giving that much sugar to a child.

colmranger
I presume you are talking about cooked veg.
My daughter would never touch a cooked veg, but she would eat practically all of them raw.

luckat

Again, if kids aren't stuffed with sweets, the sugar in glazed carrots isn't going to hurt them.

Incidentally, it's important that kids don't eat too carbohydrate-y a diet if they have the gene for short sight:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1909075.stm

Bread blamed for short sight

Short-sightedness could be linked to childhood over-consumption of bread, rather than holding books too close, researchers suggest.

Scientists say diets high in refined starches, such as breads and cereals increase insulin levels in children.

This, they say, may then affect the development of the eyeball.

<snip>

Owen

Beruthiel wrote:

My daughter would never touch a cooked veg, but she would eat practically all of them raw.

I think Beruthiel is spot on the money here. Most kids love raw vegetables, peas, carrots, etc, but it's the mushiness and the lack of flavour that puts them off cooked veg. Start her off on eating a raw carrott before her dinner (I used to find having the carrot delivered in a glass of water kept it moist enough for my 6 year old palate - I used to dip it in before every bite), then progress to some fresh peas, etc. You'll be suprised how well she'll take to it.

daveg

My 7 year old son is not a big veg eater either. He does however love fruit and raw carrots. As someone previously pointed out chop up raw carrots into sticks and give as a snack. Chopped apple/banana etc goes down very well.

My son also loves veg soup so we give him loads of that with loads of whisked up veg.

Gaspode

colmranger wrote:

IHas anyone got any tips on how to teach him healthy eating habits like his father and brother?

Whats healthy for one person is not necessarily healthy for someone else.
Unless your son is losing weight, or is dreadfully unhealthy from his current diet, leave him alone. Making a big deal over food will only create a bad attitiude in him towards food.

DonkeyStyle \o/

As a former fussy-eater-kid, I have to agree with the chopped lengths of raw carrot and celery (with a side of salad cream for dipping and flavour)... definitely worked for me.
I still detest the mushiness of many cooked veg... I like my veg mostly uncooked, cold and crunchy.
I still wretch at the smell of cooking cabbage and brussel sprouts... why people enjoy eating things that smell like farts is beyond me.