Getting Your Kids to Eat Vegetables Doesn't Have to Be a Battle

Do junk foods taste good? Of course they do! However, the big enticer for many children is advertising. How many times during the holiday season has your child said, "I want that!" to one of the myriad of toy commercials on television? The same advertising works for foods.

Companies pay fortunes on advertising, just to get your child to try their product. One advertising method that works on children is 'Make it fun'. If you've watched some of the food commercials aimed at kids today, you have probably noticed that they make the foods look as fun as possible. You can fight that. How? Make healthy eating fun!

Each week have a finger food fiesta. All kids enjoy eating with their hands. The wonderful thing about finger foods is that you can use a many different fruits and vegetables cut in various sizes and shapes to make them different and more appealing. Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, oven baked French fries. Dress them up! Add low fat dips or peanut butter. There are countless ways to serve these healthy foods and the kids get to select what they want.

Get your children involved in choosing new and unique fruits and vegetables. Try the alphabet game. Let the kids brainstorm on healthy foods starting with A and ending with Z, asparagus to zucchini! Take them shopping with you. Hit the produce section and let the games begin.

Kids and adults love to feel as though they're contributing. Let them in the kitchen, with adult supervision. Choose healthy recipes together and let them help create meals. As always, make in fun and interesting. Have a weekly ethnic night and choose a recipe from another country! Children are far more likely to dig into a new dish if they are the chef!

This tip is a little sneaky, but it works. Shred or grate your veggies. There are thousands of recipes that you can incorporate extra vitamins in by shredding vegetable into or onto the dish, think carrot cake. Pumpkin, carrots, zucchini and most squashes, make great additions to baked goods and casseroles. Mix and match you'll be surprised how many combinations work. As an added bonus, most veggies make the baked goods more moist.

Another fun activity kids can get involved in is shakes and juices. If you don't have a juicer, a blender works for smoothies. Let the children pick the fruits or vegetables then blend away. They may not like every concoction, but they will try them! Getting kids to try them is half the battle.

People are more health conscious than ever and yet obesity is on the rise. Nowhere is it more prevalent than in our children. If we instill healthier eating habits in our youth, we can break the cycle. With a little imagination, these tips can help incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your child's diet.