Rainbow Blog

‘My child won’t eat vegetables…’

posted by: Kia

That is the same phrase I heard from a couple of people who stopped to chat with us at our Today I Ate A Rainbow booth at a Christmas Craft fair last weekend. We had a very positive response to our charts but there were the occasional remarks from parents who seem to believe that no matter what, their child would never eat vegetables. While I don’t have a child that refuses vegetables (and I am very thankful for that!) I was that kid who “refused” to eat vegetables. You know how I got away with that? I had other food to eat so I wasn’t hungry enough to eat my veggies! I can almost guarantee that if I had been shipwrecked on a deserted island and only had vegetables to survive on…that I would have gladly eaten any and every vegetable available The same can be said of most “picky eaters” if they didn’t have the option…they’d eat their vegetables!

Now I’m certainly not suggesting removing all other foods so that they will eat their vegetables., I’m just saying that if push comes to shove, if your picky eater is truly hungry they will most likely nibble on some crunchy veggies! True hunger is very hard to ignore! Of course given the choice between vegetables or fries…a lot of people would prefer the fries! Some people genuinely love to eat vegetables…others (like myself – a self confessed reformed picky eater!) it’s something we do because we know it’s good for us! Take it from me, it is much harder to change eating habits later in life, than to have healthy eating habits right from the start!

Admittedly my Dad spoiled me when I was little, if I didn’t want to eat vegetables, then I didn’t have to. All I had to do was put up a fight, or shed a tear, and suddenly my vegetables would disappear from my plate. At the time I thought that was great!!! Now, having spent years trying to become a healthy eater, I wish I didn’t get my way back then.

So I can completely understand when a parent tells me that their child won’t eat vegetables (I was that child), how they’ve tried everything, that they are tired of the daily battle to coax, trick, beg, plead, fight with their child just to get them to eat their vegetables. One parent said to me with a defeated laugh…”my daughter only eats white things…nothing green that’s for sure” so she doesn’t bother anymore. I wondered if that parent was willing to stop buying white things and only filled her house with healthy options including fruits and vegetables, how long would it be before her daughter would come around and start eating her veggies!

When you stop and think about it, young children are totally dependent on their families for food, they eat what their parents buy. They don’t have money to buy the groceries, so why give them the option of having food around the house that isn’t good for them? Fill your fridge with juicy fruit and crunchy vegetables for them to eat. You have a unique opportunity, especially when your children are very young, to use that as the time to establish healthy eating habits! They don’t really have much choice do they! So surround them with healthy food choices like fruits and vegetables…if it’s their only option they’ll gladly eat it.

If you’ve decided to change the types of food at your house, be prepared for some good old fashioned tears and perhaps some added drama, because it isn’t easy for any of us to change our habits, especially ones we think are yummy! Just know that your child won’t starve themselves, their hunger is far too powerful for them to overcome with stubbornness, they will eat the healthy foods you make available for them and in time they’ll grow to like them…maybe even love them!

Happy Healthy Eating!
Kia