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Shine the Light: Nutrition

  • Published
  • By Andrea Tolbert
  • Registered Dietician, Nutritionist
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, OKLAHOMA --  Spring is finally here and now is the best time to include colorful fruits and vegetables on your plate. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends that half of your plate should come from fruits and vegetables.

Despite these recommend-ations, families often find it hard to get their children to eat these healthful foods. Below are a few tips that may encourage your little ones to taste and even eat all of their fruits and vegetables.

Lead by example: Role modeling good eating habits often will create interest in your children to try a variety of foods. It's a lot harder to convenience your four year old to eat spinach if you hate to eat anything green.
 
Involve your child: Often your child may have decided they don't like a fruit or vegetable before even trying it.  Involving your child in cooking, picking, or growing a distasteful food will likely spur their interest. Also, get creative by making faces with fruit on whole grain pancakes or lining grapes on a toothpick to make a caterpillar and use mini chocolate chips with a little vanilla icing for their eyes. Have your two year old mix grated carrots into spaghetti sauce or plant a new vegetable in your yard together.

Find more snack and meal ideas from: ChooseMyPlate.gov, http://www.eatright.org/resources/for-kids, http://www.letsgo.org/

Entice their palate: Offer a previously disliked or new food with a food your child already likes. This may help the food appear less offensive and encourage your child to taste the questionable food.

Try, try and try again: Don't give up if you've tried everything to get your little one to accept a certain fruit or vegetable. Often just the frequent exposure to the food will help your child accept it over time. Research shows it can take up to a dozen tries before a child will accept a new food. So give it some time, take a break, and try it again in a few weeks. Children's palates change frequently and they may just start to like green beans.

For more information about healthy eating and fitness events and programs contact the Healthcare to Health (H2H) team. Call 582-6541/6676 and ask about 5210.