you want your kids to be healthy so you go out of your way to get fresh vegetables and
prepare them with love and then… your kids just wont eat them.
You’ve tried every trick in the book and nothing seems to work
Today we’re going to look at a number of strategies to get over this hump, from psychology
to culinary to family dynamics.
And we’ll also hear directly from a pediatrician with decades of experience
these tips will help your kids not just tolerate vegetables but actually love them and look
forward to seeing them in their meals Ok I’ve set the bar super high, you’ll
be the judge, let’s get into it Obviously the strategy depends on age. in this
video we’ll cover all ages, from babies to teenagers but of course the earlier you start
the easier it is.
How early can we start? when they first start eating solid foods at 6months or so?
way Earlier. Breastfeeding? Earlier still.
There’s some absolutely fascinating research showing that what the mother eats during pregnancy
affects the composition of the amniotic fluid, that’s the liquid surrounding the baby in
the womb, and even affects the baby’s food preferences after birth
in this study, giving pregnant women carrot juice to drink made their children more receptive to
the carrot taste after birth. the authors explain:
Prenatal exposure to a flavor enhanced the infants’ enjoyment of that flavor in solid
foods. This study reviewed the whole field and concluded:
flavors originating from the maternal
diet during pregnancy can transfer to the amniotic fluid, and fetal flavor exposure
increases acceptance of those foods when re-exposed during infancy
So translated from nerd speak, the baby learns to love the foods mom eats during pregnancy
Talk about setting the example, before the kid’s even born
This research is some of the most mind-blowing but also bizarre stuff I’ve ever seen.
in one study they asked pregnant women to eat garlic and then had volunteers smell samples
of their amniotic fluid and try to guess which women had had garlic.
And it actually worked, they identified most of the samples correctly
I guess that’s something to brag about. Ok but chances are if you clicked on this video,
your baby is already out in the world.
that’s ok, plenty we can still do, it’s never too late!
that incredible influence of mom’s diet over the baby continues during breastfeeding.
Remember the carrot study?
They also had a group of moms who drank carrot juice during breastfeeding, and it also worked,
the babies were more receptive to the carrot taste later on when they started eating solid
foods. aaand they also brought back the garlic experiment
where volunteers smelled samples of breast milk and tried to guess which women had had the garlic.
And yes it worked again, most of the time they could tell who had the garlic just by
the smell of the breast milk. in case you're wondering this research was funded
by the NIH, government agency, so that’s your tax dollars hard at work
Joking aside the idea is to get a sense that what the mom eats is actually secreted
in the milk a couple hours later so the baby is exposed to those flavors.
Weirdness factor aside it all kinda makes sense Ok so if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, you have
direct control over his or her later preferences by eating those foods yourself
what if your kid is past breastfeeding?
Plenty of strategies left. there’s some common advice out there to ‘sneak in’
the vegetables.
ok but can we can find a way to actually feature them and make them the star, not a nuisance
that we gotta hide?
Is that possible?
Challenge accepted. The first thing is to rely on the versatility
of vegetables. If your kids turn down steamed veggies, try sauteeing them
Maybe your kid is not into raw onions in salad.
How about caramelized onions?
thats a whole different beast
a great example of versatility is Cauliflower.
Parents report Its one of the tougher things to get kids to eat so it’s a good example
of how you can make it a thousand different ways it doesn’t have to be just this bland white
thing. if steamed cauliflower is not a hit maybe
try cauliflower rice with a nice sauce on top.
You go from the florets to the rice in 30secs by processing or grating, and it almost doesn’t
seem like the same plant I’ll link a video below with 7 flavors of
cauliflower rice to play with.
As we’ll see this issue of choice keeps coming up over and over again
Texture and temperature can have a big impact on our taste perception.
for us too not just kids.
so don’t assume a vegetable is off the table for good just because it wasnt welcome when served
a certain way Maybe raw vegetables are a no-go but roasted
veggies work Air-frying or Oven-frying veggies is another
option that may be worth a shot because it delivers the crunchiness without the added fat of
deep-frying
Besides texture and temperature, shape also matters, kids are very visual and can reject
a food before even tasting sometimes but this can also work to your advantage if you can
find a presentation that intrigues them.
Here are a couple ideas
zucchini noodles.
Slices of zucchini are so boring, this is way better
you can get a spiralizer for less than 10bucks
kids love spaghetti right?
Well its technically spaghetti, kinda, and its a whole vegetable its gluten-free its
low carb, low fat.
what else do we need from a food?
does it also do our taxes for us?
spiralizing also works for carrots and a bunch of other veggies too
ok here's another idea, cauliflower pizza crust.
a healthier version of a food kids usually love.
Most recipes for pizza crust include eggs and cheese but if you prefer to avoid those
it can be done with flaxseed for example, I’ll link recipes below with and without
eggs etc if you prefer a plant-based cheese, check
out our video on how to make delicious cashew cheese that actually tastes cheesy.
ok here’s another one: cauliflower mash
super quick, 1 minute in the food processor you turn the boring steamed cauliflower into
this delicious soft mash that resembles mashed potatoes.
And by adding other ingredients into the processor you can make it garlicky. or spicy.
Or cheesy, with actual cheese or nutritional yeast. both work
Speaking of shapes, vegetable cutters are cheap, you can buy a whole kit and let your kids
choose the shape they like
by focusing the choice on shape you’re locking in the quality aspect.
this is sometimes called a double-bind, where both options are good
do you want your carrots star-shaped or heart-shaped?
Instead of ‘carrots or frozen chicken nuggets’
Even better then choosing is letting them do the shaping.
This gets them involved in preparing the meals instead of it just popping up magically in
front of them which doesn’t foster a connection with the food
this logic extends to shopping too.
Getting kids to help out and teaching them which foods to buy how to choose and the logic
behind it.
from a very young age kids understand the concept of a something that’s good for them
vs something that makes them sick so explaining the basics, these are fruits and vegetables
and this is candy, we have this once in a while but not all the time because it can make
us sick.
Basic stuff like that, a 3yo is perfectly capable of understanding it
that simple adventure at the store is one of the most important lessons we can teach
our children and it sets the right dynamic of understanding why we do certain things,
not just because you're told. there’s a new book out, hunt gather parent
and its making waves.
The author Dr. Michaeleen Ducleff explains how she taught her daughter about the gut
microbiome. is her daughter in graduate school?
No, she’s 3.
So she just boiled it down to the basics.
She told her that little bugs live in our belly and they’re good for us and they help
you grow and be healthy and learn and be smart and just like us they need to eat and they
like foods like asparagus and broccoli and chickpeas and if we eat
too much candy they can get sick
its nutrition made simple toddler edition. so this whole idea of making kids an active
participant instead of a passive recipient.
involving them in the choice and preparation, it makes everything easier because kids are much
more likely to eat a food they helped choose and create than something imposed that they
have to eat because mommy said so.
It turns a chore into something fun just a quick note that the choices should
come before the meal.
Not during.
Once dinner is served, that’s what we’re having, but during prep and planning we have
some choice of what we’re going to eat still on the topic of visual appeal, those
veggie cutter kits sometimes come with colored food picks and other decorations.
This is the type of simple thing that can help make the plate more colorful and exciting
when it comes to shapes one of the go-tos is to make faces out of veggies.
It’s fun and it works with almost anything because our brain is programmed to recognize facial
patterns everywhere.
Each plate can represent a family member.
Shaping food like animals works great too.
or whatever cartoon or superhero the kids are into, use that.
peppa pig broccoli.
Whatever it takes.
Hey whatever it takes now these strategies can help but the
setup needs to be right.
Kids will pick up on cues around them really astutely
If they’re expected to eat their veggies but other people eat junk, that’s not gona
work.
we need to lead by example I know you eat a stellar diet but some people
out there not watching this video sometimes want their kids to do something while they
do something else.
actions speak louder than words.
On that note, I recently had the chance to discuss this topic of kids and vegetables
with board-certified pediatrician Dr. Jeffrey Hirschfield. here’s what he had to say:
you can't force a child to eat. we know from our experience that little kids will eventually start eating those foods
particularly when we embrace it, the whole family, that's what's on the table, that's what's available
they'll start eating it, we know that over many decades, that's what happens
so you can't force a toddler to eat, you can just say this is what we're eating, we have 1 meal, we're all here together
make them part of the creation, of the dishes you're preparing, we add value there
by having parents engaging with their children and having fun, make funny faces and shapes, different things with their vegetables, make it fun for them
so as Jeff explained, availability is a big piece of the puzzle.
If healthy food is all there is, kids will eat it.
but if there is a junkier option the eye will stray…
so one idea: consider making the home a junk-free zone or a more moderate option maybe the meals
are junk-free time.
Having a system like that in place starts to teach them about boundaries and how to
build a consistent habit in fact in hunt gather parent she lays out
3 keys to building healthy behaviors: model, which is leading by example, where kids tend
to emulate the adults.
Practice so the consistency of doing something day after day like healthy meals.
And finally acknowledging progress and effort in the right direction
ok we’re gona keep going we have a lot more tips to cover but by all means share below
any strategies that have worked for you and your family so everybody can learn new tricks!
Ok so we can play with shapes.
We can play with the name too.
Come up with silly names that make things fun.
zucchini noodles are zoodles or it’s the hair from the green giant.
Broccoli and cauliflower are baby trees from the magical forest.
you get the idea
Oh and unicorns.
When in doubt throw in a unicorn
You can create a whole backstory for the food so it’s a whole event.
Let us know what masterpieces you come up with
And remember an image is worth a thousand words so cute vegetable pictures on the fridge
door or children’s books talking about vegetables will get kids familiar with them in a friendly
way
another great move is to use vegetables as toppings.
Maybe you're doing the cauliflower pizza and you lay out 6 or 7 vegetable options, different colors
and shapes in colored bowls and let them choose the toppings they want.
Spinach, mushroom, broccoli, carrots, bellpeppers.
It’s the double-bind on steroids, all options are great
the veggie topping buffet also works great for tacos or salad or the mash. works with
any meal and it makes it fun and interactive again you can come up with a fun name, we’re
having dynamo tacos tonight.
There’s the boring normal tacos, and there’s dynamo tacos with the topping buffet laid
out.
Now the vegetables became an upgrade.
not something we have to hide. Hey Johnny do you want regular tacos tonight or special
dynamo turbo tacos?
Ok another great tool are sauces or dips.
Hummus, Tahini, Guacamole.
Even nut butters.
They can really add flavor and dimension and nutrition to vegetables, they’re rich in
healthy fats and protein which many veggies are less concentrated in so it’s a great
combo Really this is not that different from adults.
In our videos we often discuss finding a way to eat healthy that works for YOU. same logic.
Play with all the options to find something healthy that works for your kids
ok couple more ideas mixing fruit in a salad.
The sweetness can help make it more appealing Smoothies with Fruit and greens are another
common one that allow you to harness the sweetness of the fruit to get some other veggies in
there Another one is ‘Ice cream’ made with frozen
fruit.
I made a video with this before, I love it, all you do is freeze the fruit and then blend
for a few seconds.
Something about the frozen form brings out the sweetness, I don’t need to add any sweetner,
it tastes like real icecream, I did this with Berries in the video but it Works with Banana,
mango, pineapple.
Great option for a healthy desert without artificial sugar
Ok lets talk about older kids.
Preteens and teenagers.
Obviously we need different strategies here.
Star-shaped carrots aren’t gona mesmerize your average 15yo
The older they are the more freedom of choice they should have.
within reason.
Allowing them to have input into the food choices, not being too restrictive, but not
having too much junk at the house so the available options are all reasonable
If you're working on a new habit it will take some time, it’s a gradual Transition so
work at it 1 day at a time 1 month at a time and acknowledge progress
Now of course older kids are going to eat different things on their own, buy it themselves, eat with
their friends etc. and that’s ok, but the home should remain this point of reference
where we normally eat healthy meals
On one hand with older kids it’s not as simple as with a 2yo but on the other hand
their comprehension is at another level so the education aspect can really come into
play
you can explain the health benefits much better, what’s fiber, what are vitamins, why do
we eat this or that
one key to motivating older kids is to tie the benefits to things they care about.
teenagers don’t care about risk of heart disease, its not in their reality, but things
like growth, height, athleticism, performance in school, their appearance, those things
matter to them, if they understand their diet impacts their overall health which impacts
all of those aspects physical and psychological they’re much more likely to take an interest in eating
a bit healthier
Here’s Dr. Hirschfield again on this point:
even teenagers, the parents come in with their teens, we speak openly and honestly, they hear the same themes over and over
about how this improves your health and your outlook, your energy, endurance, sleep pattern, and it does, we start with that notion
Sometimes I need to get a bit pictoral, I put out the growth charts and show at 6mos they start eating and sure enough the weight curve
starts trending up, but when you're a teenager they're fully understanding, they listen, they change. the kids are the leaders
starting in toddler years, they understand that they'll be better performers in sports, and they'll look better for their peers, and they come back and we see it
we measure it, we check their weight, their blood pressure, that gives them more enthusiasm, they really adapt, they do wonderful things
it works, they feel good, everybody's happy, the family's happier, the parents learn too at the same time, everybody's participating together
they see the benefits
the key aspects I would highlight out of all of this are the 1) the education side, empowering
kids starting at an early age, to make healthy choices and understand why we make them and
2) the environment aspect.
Leading by example so they pick up the right cues and availability.
Its less about willpower and more about skillpower.
Instead of straining to make the right choice in the wrong situation, working on creating
an environment that makes it easy to make the right choices
Here’s more on the psychology of healthy decisions and a look at the biology of breastfeeding.
Tchau!