Five Brilliant Ways To Make Your Children Eat More Fruit & Veg

According to a recent study, “only about a third of young kids eat fruit daily,” despite official guidance stating that everyone should eat at least five servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day.

Following a healthy, balanced diet is essential, especially during childhood, as our diet directly impacts both our physical and mental health. Furthermore, the habits that we pick up as children tend to follow us into adulthood.

Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

As a parent, this means that you must always be on the lookout for ways to get your kids excited about healthy eating. With that in mind, here are five brilliant ways to make your children eat more fruit and veg!   

Use cookie-cutters.

Sometimes, presentation is key when it comes to encouraging your children to eat more fruit and veg, as it simply looks more appealing on the plate. As a result, using cookie cutters or cutting fruit and veg into fun shapes can be the only encouragement they need to tuck in! 

Grow your own fruit & veg. 

Growing your own fruit and veg is not only a great way to cut down the cost of your weekly groceries, but it can also encourage them to try more fruits and veg, too! After all, they’ve put in the work to grow them, so they may as well enjoy the results of their hard work. 

Puree fruit. 

Many children avoid certain fruits and vegetables because they do not like the texture of the fruit itself, even though they may enjoy the taste. This is something that they will likely overcome as they get older and grow more comfortable with different sensory experiences. As a result, pureeing different fruit and vegetables can be a great way to ensure they don’t miss out on certain foods because of sensory issues. This can also be beneficial when introducing babies or smaller children to new foods! You can find out how to make pureed strawberries here.

Add fruit to other dishes. 

Adding fruit to other recipes your children love can be a great way to ensure they get their five a day. For example, if you were preparing some 

brioche french toast as a morning treat, you could add different fruit toppings such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Not only do they taste great when paired with french toast, but it also makes this yummy indulgence a little bit healthier!  

Set up a fruit salad bar.

As mentioned before, the way in which food is presented can also change how we feel about eating it. Setting up a fruit salad bar within your home is a great way to make healthy eating seem more fun, as it’s more of a unique experience than simply being handed some fruit and being told to tuck in. Furthermore, it also means your children can choose what they’d like to put on their plate, which means they’re not forced to eat something they do not like. However, you should try to introduce a new ‘fruit’ each time you do this so that they can gradually expand their palette.