YMCA Healthy Living Magazine, powered by n4 food and health Autumn 2019 | Page 19

KATE WENGIER
Kate is dietitian and the creator of Positive Food Education and founder of Foost. Kate has a passion
for teaching children how to have a positive relationship with food and make family mealtimes more
joyful. Learn more at www.foost.com.au
HELP KIDS GO
BANANAS FOR
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Five tips to encourage all family members to love fruit and veggies for life!
W
e all know veggies are good for
us... so how do we inspire our
families to enjoy them more?
1 Eat as a family
Whenever possible, enjoy meals together
as a family with limited distractions. Aim
to turn off devices and screens whilst
eating so your family can enjoy real-life
interactions. Eating as a family means at
least one adult with as many children that
are home at the time. Focus more on
creating a nice relaxed environment and
less on how much food is being
eaten.  Family mealtimes not only help
children eat more colourful fruit and
veggies (because you are role modelling
to them), they also help children’s mental
health and academic performance. 
eating for parental praise or from
pressure. This will have long-term results,
which is ideal if you want your children to
love veggies for life.
3
Keep offering (without
pressure)
Learning to like fruit and vegetables is like
learning anything. It takes continued
positive exposures and time. Encourage
children to explore new foods without
pressure to eat them. Have patience, as it
can take 15 to 30 exposures before a child
may accept a new food. It’s often more
successful if you let children try new foods
in their own time; children don’t hate
zucchini, they just haven’t learned to like it
yet. Serve veggies in different ways −
carrots can be raw (cut into sticks or
circles), roasted, steamed or grated.
4
Build exposures away from
the table
Build familiarity with new foods away
from the table to help children on their
food acceptance journey. Cooking,
gardening, berry picking and shopping
(‘can you pick me three carrots please?’)
are all great activities.
5 Don’t wait until dinner time
Children can be tired come dinner time,
which can make trying not-yet-loved
veggies a little tricky. Offer fruit and
veggies at meal and snack times
all throughout the day.
2 Give kids the tongs
Try serving meals family style; with food
in the middle of the table and let children
serve themselves. Your role as a parent is
to choose what foods to serve, where
they are eaten, and to serve meals at
regular intervals. If you want your children
to eat more fruits and vegetables, you
have to serve these foods often.
Remember to serve new foods alongside
food that children are already comfortable
with eating, such as pasta or bread.
Always have on the table foods you know
they will eat, alongside foods they are still
learning to like. Trust your children to
choose what foods to put on their plates
and into their bellies. Let children be
internally motivated to eat, rather than
AUTUMN 2019 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE
19