TAKING
TIME
by Rebecca Escott
Extension Home Economist
No Peas, Please
When parents complain that
their children don’t eat vegetables,
I always ask for more information.
First, do the parents eat a variety
of fruits and vegetables regularly?
Children learn just by watching
their parents.
According to Dr. Judith Myers-
Walls, Human Development Spe
cialist at Purdue University, there
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are some of the unconscious mes
sages we may give our children
through our eating routines: “Meat
and potatoes make the meal; veg
etables are extras.” “Fresh fruit is
a good snack.” “A good meal
always includes desserts.” What
are your messages about meals?
Studies show that children and
parents tend to eat the same types
of foods. A National Cancer Insti
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tute study showed that 75 percent
of the United States population
doesn’t eat the recommended five
or more servings of fruits and veg
etables each day. Eating veget
ables is not just an issue with
children.
If you feel comfortable with the
eating patterns you are modeling,
check other areas. Vegetables
with strong aromas, drab colors or
mushy textures may be a turn off.
I polled my nieces and nephews
about their preferences. I found
out one didn’t like carrots because
some time ago he had burnt his
tongue on a spoonful of them. I
found out that tomato sauce is
okay, but tomato pieces in soup is
“gross!” The six-year old said. “I
kinda like spinach ’cause it’s good
for you. I know because of Pop
eye.” The youngest told me she
liked cucumbers, “especially with
could come up short on delivery.
Go with the system that has
proven itself year after year.
Go with the Big Dutchman Chain
Feeding System.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 26, 1993-819
cream.” Her mother had to inter
pret that for me. “Cream means
dipped in blue cheese dressing.”
To my surprise my nieces’
and nephews’ favorite vegetable
was artichoke leaves dipped in
butter. This may not be the most
nutritious vegetable, but it is tasty.
The fact that they love it illustrates
several important principles of
teaching children to eat
vegetables.
1. Start early. If a four-year old
likes artichokes, you know it is
something she was introduced to
at an early age. Serve a new food
at the beginning of the meal. Only
try one new item at a time. Then
give your child the same freedom
you would give an adult to like to
dislike a particular item.
2. Enhance the taste. The arti-
choke was probably a favorite
because the BUTTER tastes good.
Melted cheese, dips, and sauces
can make a vegetable more appe
aling. But use caution with this
suggestion. Some kids would
rather have everything plain.
3. Finger food is fun. Peeling
and dipping makes eating veget
ables more like a treat. Anything
you can do to involve the children
in the process will increase their
chances of eating the food. Let
each child select one vegetable to
buy during a shopping trip. Older
children can help chop, toss, tear
and serve the vegetables.
If following these principles
still doesn’t bring results, try dif
ferent ways of serving the same
vegetable raw, cooked, sliced,
grated, plain, with dips and
sauces, sweet, spicy, cold, hot,
alone, in casseroles, soups or
baked products. Offer small
servings.
Control the food supplies. Keep
lots of healthy foods on hand
fruits, vegetables, cheese, whole
grain bagels and muffins, pop
corn, yogurt, peanut butter. Don’t
stock soda, chips and other high
fat, low-nutrition foods. That way
hungry kids will have only good
options.
Remember, the power struggles
over vegetables at dinner may not
be about food. Your children may
want your attention. Turn off the
stereo or TV and include them in
the conversation. Re-think meal
time rules. Paremts tend to expect
better behavior from their kids at
the table than they would in the
family room. Be reasonable about
what you expect from them given
their ages.