veggie toddler - a young child learning how to walk and eat vegetables, not necessarily a wobbly vegetarian.



Saturday, August 21, 2010

Less Hide, More Seek

Someone just brought up the concept of hiding vegetables in our kid’s food. I have to say that I am not a fan of this approach to getting kids to eat vegetables. I do not think hiding vegetables in other “kid-friendly” food is the answer to getting kids to eat nutritious food. As a mother, I do not have the time nor desire to play veggie-dress-up in the kitchen every day.

I say let cookies be cookies and vegetables be vegetables. If we don’t teach our children what a carrot looks like, tastes like and how it makes our body feel, there is no way our kids will grow up eating vegetables. Sure, hiding vegetables in cookies will give your kid one serving of vegetables today, but what about tomorrow when you aren’t there to offer your special veggie-cookies? I think eating healthy should have more long term goals than today’s daily dose.

The way to get kids to eat vegetables is to teach them how they look, feel and taste – vegetables are yummy, not yucky. Teach kids what nutritious food tastes like so they will grow up to make healthy choices for themselves.

When it comes to nutritious food, a little less hide and little more seek is always the way to go.

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