Readers Respond: Getting Kids to Eat Healthy

Most nutrition experts recommend against forcing kids to eat foods they don't like or making them "clean" their plates. So how do you get them to eat more vegetables, fruits, and other healthy foods? How do you avoid power struggles and mealtime battles in your home? How do you get your kids to eat healthy foods? Parents Respond

Small Portions

We serve our kids a very small portion of everything that we are having for the meal. They don't have to eat it all, but they don't get seconds of anything else if they don't...and water is the only food/bev in between if they don't finish their plate. If they finish their plate they can have 2nds, 3rds on anything that they want. NEVER MAKE YOUR CHILD A SEPARATE MEAL! From the time they start transitioning from baby food they need to eat exactly what you are. Food is a lot like sleep habits. They are what you make them from birth. If you are OK with your child eating what they choose and when, you do not have to have firm rules. If you are not, then you need to start "right" from the beginning.

—Guest Wilson4

lunch box tips

I have bought a lunch box which has sections in it that can be altered in size. My daughter had a fun time picking out things like carrot sticks, cheese, cucumber sticks, bread sticks, raisins and other such things to fill in the sections. She helped to put cheese in a small section to restrict the amount she will eat. She is so excited that she said she can't wait for lunchtime to eat it and show everyone her lunch box. She had to choose which sections to put each item into so that she made an informed choice to put cheese in small section because she recognized that despite the good things about cheese, such as calcium, she knows it is high in sat fat and so she chose to put it in small section. This helps her to be wise about food and make her own choices to learn about good nutrition.

—Guest KT

finger foods

I try to make it fun for my daughter with finger foods, such as brown brown rice cakes, freeze dried fruits, raisins, diced avocados, or diced sweet potatoes, etc.

—Guest Sarah

Stuck with a picky eater

I really don't know what to do with my picky eater! I've been very gradually introducing grilled meats instead of hot dogs and nuggets, and he loves fruit, but the only veg he will eat is carrots (with lots of ketchup.) I buy lower salt/lower sugar peanut butter, but the low-fat version has more of both of those, presumably to add flavor. I encourage yogurt instead of sweets, but he still gets lots of treats at school and parties. I use whole-grain white bread, so he doesn't know it's healthy, and sneak multigrain pasta without him knowing it. I think if he were more active, that would really help, but he doesn't like sports. We got him a dog, and are going to make him help us walk the dog!

—Guest Daffodil Mom

cereal

My child will eat pretty much anything, but there are times when she just wants a sweeter taste, so I will add 10 fruit loops to her bowl of cheerios. That way, she can have a little of the sweetness, without having an entire bowl of sugary cereal. Also, she loves oatmeal if you add about 1/8 of a teaspoon of sugar, some vanilla and sometimes she likes a dash of cinnamon.

—Guest annonymous

bribes

i am ashamed to say that i have to tell my children that they won't get dessert if they don't eat their veggies.

—Togram

Creative marketing!

We like to come up with fun names for healthy foods, and it usually works pretty well. The top of a green pepper gets sliced off and called a "pepper hat" -- my daughter gets mad now if I eat the "pepper hat." Anything circular is a pizza ("quesadilla pizzas" etc.). And I learned quickly to use the phrase "purple orange," not "blood orange." Just don't oversell, or it will backfire. And make sure it really is tasty. Farmer's markets are great for that.

—mamatech

My Kids

One of my kids eats very well. The other - not so much. We offer lots of healthy choices to both, but one is just a very picky eater and won't touch veggies or many new foods. As we continue to offer small pieces of things we are eating, don't force things, offer lots of healthy things we know he likes, and don't provide a lot of juice or junk food, we know he eats okay and he surprises us every once in a while by trying something new. I'm not sure why the other one eats so much healthier, as I didn't do much different with him.