Getting child to eat vegetables

spring13

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 1:01 pm

amother wrote:

Sorry baba, but that's me.

There are ways to get nutrition in without sneaking in vegetables. Would you do the same for your friend the vegetarian (or your child the vegetarian) because you think they aren't getting in enough protein?

If a vegetarian wasn't getting enough protein, the issue would be increasing their intake of vegetarian sources of protein, not sneaking them meat. It's not the same issue at all. There is nothing immoral about carrot muffins.

flowerpower

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 1:07 pm

The secret is to keep veggies in the house at all times from birth! Make appetizing salads, serve them at every meal, and eat them in front of the kids. My kids love vegetables! All kids. From spinach to broccoli to baby carrots to lettuce and everything in between. Its one of the main staples in the house. They're served at every meal. I make it look exciting. We make faces with them sometimes and other stuff. My suggestion is to serve it at all meals and make it look exciting. There are so many vegetables and so many ways to present it. There is no way kids really hate them.

amother

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 1:26 pm

Vegetables are not immoral. Lying to your children and sneaking them into their food without telling them is.

Making carrot muffins AND SAYING SO is fine.

Telling your child it's brownies and sneaking in zucchini is not (aside from the fact that the cholesterol issue won't be helped much from eating a minute amount of zucchini in an unhealthy cake).

And, like I said, there are ways to increase nutrition WITHOUT EATING VEGETABLES. Imagine that. There are vitamins and minerals in FRUIT! In SOUP broth made with vegetables! In healthy GRAINS! Wow.

In this case, the child is willing to taste vegetables, he doesn't like them yet. Keep exposing him, but don't lie to him. It's cruel, and you would feel betrayed if it was done to you. ("I snuck some moldy onions into that stir fry. It was good anyway, right? This kind of mold is good for you. You couldn't even tell, right? Ha ha!")

watermelon

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 2:21 pm

Veggie sticks with dip are fun for kids to eat. Also veggie sticks in ketchup, believe it or not. My kids also dip broccoli in ketchup. I find that my kids prefer veggie slices they can dip, but aren't big fans of the very same veggies cut up in a salad.
We go through a lot of pickles, that's a vegetable too!
There are box drinks from the apple&eve brand, called fruitables IIRC, and they have a few servings of fruit and vegetables per serving. They taste like regular juice.

spring13

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 2:30 pm

amother wrote:

That honestly makes no sense. You aren't lying when you neglect to inform your child that the brownies contain egg, or baking powder, or dutch-process cocoa rather than natural. How is putting zucchini in them any different?

No one here has said not to give your kids vegetables in obvious forms, or to improve their nutrition in other ways.

amother

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 3:12 pm

If you know your son does not like zucchini, and has told you as much, it is betrayal.

It's not like zucchini is a normal ingredient in brownies. It's a method of "disguising" vegetables - I.e. tricking your kids into eating foods they do not want to eat.

Be honest with yourself: You would not deny the eggs nor the cocoa, and if your child said he did not like cocoa, you wouldn't tell him that the brownies are really blondies.

Kids are people too. You would not like to be purposely misled by someone who decided it was for your benefit.

spring13

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 3:40 pm

amother wrote:

If you know your son does not like zucchini, and has told you as much, it is betrayal.

Hiding vegetables is not like telling a kid that Santa exists and going to extreme lengths to make him think so. It's not like telling someone that they look good in an outfit when they really don't and will be embarrassed in public if you aren't honest. This is more like lying for the sake of shalom bayis, if you insist on thinking of it in those terms at all.

Your zucchini-hating son thinks zucchini tastes bad, not that it will cause him to go over to the dark side. He's a kid and he's illogical and he's not capable of being objective about food and nutrition and how things can taste. If my kid asked if there was zucchini in the brownies, of course I'd tell him yes. And then I'd start a discussion about flavors and different ways of eating things and why it's important to be open-minded about food. I'm the parent in this situation, and I know better than my kids do about what's good for them.

bigsis144

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 3:56 pm

flowerpower wrote:

YOU.
ARE.
VERY.
LUCKY.

DH and I eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables daily, but DS has no interest.

I've done every trick:
- putting purees in muffins/pancakes (which works sometimes, but isn't especially healthy, and I don't count it as veggies because it doesn't count as a veggie to my kid)
- "no dessert until you eat your veggies" (he will go without dessert)
- letting DS pick out fruit/veggies in the supermarket (he'll happily put things in the cart but won't touch them when we get home)
- letting DS cook with me (he's a pro at peeling carrots but won't eat them, thinks lettuce spinners are da bomb but won't eat salad)
- "you only have to eat two bites" (he'll touch it with the tip of his tongue and then gag and literally lick the tablecloth/wall/his brother to get the taste off)
- salad dressing/ketchup for veggies (nope)
- occasionally, DS will eat frozen peach slices or mango cubes, but not on a regular basis
- making similar foods -- "you like french fries from the store; look at these homemade potato wedges! they're just like french fries!" (nope)

So I have honestly come to the conclusion that parents who believe ANYTHING they did led to their children's consumption of vegetables are DELUDED.

Wink

amother

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 5:23 pm

Quote:

Your zucchini-hating son thinks zucchini tastes bad, not that it will cause him to go over to the dark side. He's a kid and he's illogical and he's not capable of being objective about food and nutrition and how things can taste.

That is a terrible way to see your children. ALL food preferences are illogical.

Do you know that there are those who suggest drinking a fresh cup of urine every morning? So if I sneak some into your cereal and milk because you are not capable of being objective about food and nutrition, and I consider it healthy, is that okay?

And don't say "that's gross, everyone knows it," because in many countries it's not.

Taste and gross are in the eyes of the beholder, and your child is also entitled to have a sense of taste.

mummiedearest

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 6:05 pm

I was picky to the extreme as a child. my mom used to make pancakes for supper out of aunt jemima mix. she'd blend in a package of tofu. we found out about this, but she didn't always do it. we couldn't really tell the difference, and we didn't object enough to refuse pancakes on the off-chance that there was fermented soy product inside. I don't think it's terrible to disguise an ingredient to make it more palatable. you don't read your child every ingredient in pizza sauce before giving him/her a slice of pizza. do you tell your child that onion powder is dehydrated onion? do you tell him that tomato sauce is made of tomatoes? do you avoid giving him tri-colored pasta because they contain spinach and tomato powders? would you refuse to give him organic cereal that uses beet juice and turmeric as colorants? it's only a breech of trust if you sneak it in just to get him to eat something he doesn't like for the sake of eating something he doesn't like. if it becomes a normal ingredient in the dish in your home, you're just cooking. the child still has the option of throwing a tantrum at the table and refusing to eat it regardless of its contents.

spring13

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 8:11 pm

amother wrote:

Quote:

It's not like you're force-feeding the kid a brownie while he gags and chokes over a flavor that repels him. The point of disguising an ingredient is that it is present without affecting the taste of the overall product. You're not fooling a kid into eating something he doesn't like, because he likes the item as it is - the fact that it contains whatever vegetable isn't bothering him. So I still don't understand why this is considered a betrayal or breach of trust. Sure, it's better to be upfront about things and find ways to convince your kids to do things more directly. But why would I not make attempts to improve the nutritional value of items I know they will eat, especially if they have a documented health problem that needs emergent attention?

ETA: When I say kids can't be objective about how things can taste, I wasn't saying that kids don't know what they like, only that they don't always have the experience and awareness to make accurate judgments about foods or preparations they've never had. Growing up I never liked cauliflower, because it was only ever served to me plain and steamed. Then I discovered recipes for roasted and spiced cauliflower and realized that I really do like it - if it's prepared in particular ways. Now that I have more experience with cooking and judging recipes before I make them, it's easier for me to say I do or don't like X. But a kid who's had a bad experience with steamed cauliflower might need some help getting over that and realizing that if it's done another way he'd like it better.

etky

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 9:34 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

ITA - it's a complete myth that all children will just eat whatever their parents or other siblings are eating if they are exposed to it enough and/or in creative, appetizing ways. It's true for some kids but certainly not all. With others there are many mitigating factors like sensory defensiveness or certain personality traits that determine otherwise (unfortunately).

amother

Wed, Feb 05 2014, 10:35 pm

So did your husband hide cauliflower in your chicken soup so that you would learn that it could taste good? Or did you see, smell, and cautiously taste the spicy cauliflower? Give your kids the same respect.

I'm not saying that a child may never change a food preference, I'm saying that sneaking it into his food KNOWING he doesn't want it is mean.

Offer it in different ways, but don't sneak chicken broth into your "vegetarian" cholent and then tell the vegetarian that it tastes good, so obviously he shouldn't hate on chicken so much.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Feb 06 2014, 4:57 am

DH "hates" vegetables. I love them. I've snuck veggies into lots of things, and told him about it after he's eaten the meal and raved about how wonderful it was. His conclusion was not that "he was being disrespected and betrayed". He usually says something like "I've just never had them cooked properly before. My mom always boiled the life out of everything." DD is the same way. When she hears that I snuck a veggie in, she says "Hm, not bad! I guess I could handle it this way."

When DD was younger, the only way I could get enough veggies in her was to give her a cup of frozen green beans, corn, or peas. She loved the crunchy texture, that she could use her fingers to eat them, and that they didn't get mushy. She wouldn't touch them if they were fresh or cooked.

We don't have a two bite rule at our house, we have a one bite rule, and spitting into a napkin is allowed. "You don't have to like it, you don't even have to finish it, but you DO have to try it." I keep her favorite foods as a backup in case she decides that my dinner would be better off in the dog's dish.

Keep trying different ways to serve things. For one veggie it might be a texture issue. For another, a flavor issue, or a color issue. I have a friend who has no problem eating mushroom gravy, as long as it's pureed really smooth. The second she actually bites into a mushroom, she has to run to the bathroom and throw up. DD hates bell pepper cooked in anything, but she'll eat a fresh whole one like an apple, right down to the stem. I can't stand bell pepper in any form!

mummiedearest

Thu, Feb 06 2014, 7:04 am

amother wrote:

those who hide the veggies are not doing it to teach their kids to like the veggies. they're doing it to give their kids necessary nutrients. this is not a teaching moment, it's a health opportunity. all the kids are going to learn from this is that it's normal to put zucchini in brownies. and they may do the same for their children because it tastes good and adds a vegetable to their daily intake. no one assumes that adding zucchini to brownies is going to turn a child into a zucchini fan.