Why My Teenage Son Still Loves His Veggies

My thirteen year old son gets up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack. He reaches into the cupboard, moves the bag of chips out of the way, and grabs a can a green beans. This scenario is repeated for afternoon munchies as well. Many people ask me about why my teenage son still loves his veggies. The answer is a mixture of luck (my daughter is a pickier eater) and the good old fashioned trick of making healthy food fun. Here are a few tips for how to get kids to eat vegetables that has worked for me.

Offer Raw Vegetables With Dips and Toppings

Cut up broccoli and cauliflower and buy the bite size baby carrots. Try out different dips together everyday, from ranch to melted cheese. Spread some peanut butter or cream cheese on celery and sprinkle it with raisins. Look up edible crafts and make cars and other figures using healthy foods. The more colorful and messy the better.

Cook Together

Even the smallest of children can sprinkle a salad with carrot shavings and other vegetables that you have diced beforehand. Talk about nutrition while you work together and let each child take turns picking out the vegetable that will be eaten with dinner. Try out new recipes using vegetables as much as possible to find new family favorites. Have your kids be your taste tester to surprise the rest of the household with a new creation.

Start a Garden

This is how I plan to get my daughter to eat more vegetables as she loves the outdoors. Even if it is a small indoor window garden, such as a miniature tomato, have your children help plant and tend the veggies. They'll be proud to try and share with others what they have grown themselves.

Hide Them in Other Foods

Put very fine shavings of carrots in their spaghetti sauce or small pieces of celery in their tuna fish sandwiches for a fun crunch. My teenage son still loves his veggies in colorful ways, like when we make rainbow mash potatoes. Mix in beets to turn them pink for your princess or peas to make "alien spuds" for your little future astronaut.

As you may have noticed the trick to getting kids to eat vegetables is to include them as much as possible in the choices and preparation of snacks and meals. Even if it doesn't work for your children right away, keep offering healthy alternatives to side dishes and snacks. The pickiest eater in my family, my daughter, now adores salads and is looking forward to helping with our spring garden. It's a good start to a nutritious future food palette.