Healthy Families: Bringing Vegetables and Fruits into Meal Times

As a mom and, I hope, a healthy role model for my daughter, we work on healthy behaviors as a family. One of the things I am constantly working on is finding ways to incorporate a variety of vegetables and fruits into my family’s snacks and meals. Right now in fact, as I am writing this blog, my daughter, Peighton, is playing outside, running around chasing butterflies, and I have her favorite snack – sliced watermelon – ready for her to eat when she comes in.

Fruits and vegetables are among the healthiest foods we can eat – yet they are disappearing at an alarming rate from our plates, and therefore our children’s plates. So now, more than ever, we have to role model healthy behaviors and getting our children excited about eating vegetables and fruits. Now, when I say role modeling healthy behaviors I don’t mean we have to be perfect! There are days when we may not have such a great role model day, but it isn’t about perfection – it’s about practicing healthy skills for a lifetime.
 
 

 
With that in mind, I have a few ideas I would like to share with all you parents out there looking for some new ways to boost your family’s fruit and veggie numbers:

• When I am planning meals at home, I make sure they always include at least 2-3 cups of vegetables and fruit (this is truly a SKILL – one that I still have to work on).
• When I’m packing my daughter’s lunch for school, I always add different kinds of fruits and vegetables for her to try. (Some of my choices have been more popular than others!)
• At restaurants, order meals that have vegetable servings, or order some on the side (my daughter loves salad).
• Pack veg/fruit snacks for road trips (bags of sliced apples and baby carrots with low-cal ranch dressing are favorites for us).
• Share fruit (and veg!) smoothies with your kids. Peighton loves my favorite shake right now, which is the Shamrock Shake. It actually has a cup of fresh spinach in it, but the taste of the spinach is masked by the fruit, so it’s a great way to get my daughter to eat her spinach (which is the ONLY way I can get my daughter to eat spinach).
• If you are going to a party (or hosting one), make sure you have a vegetable and fruit tray for the kids. You will be surprised how quickly they gobble the bite-size pieces up.
• When you go to the grocery store or farmer’s market, make it fun by letting your kids help you pick out vegetables and fruit – that’s how my daughter discovered Cuties^® (clementines), and now she loves them! They are a perfect size and easy for children to eat.

We keep a “Healthy Plate” graphic in our kitchen and my daughter looks to see where the foods fall that are on our plates, and gives us a nutrition grade based on the meals. Some nights she’s right on, some nights, a little off, but at least she is aware of the food she is eating. She’s also learning that there are foods we can eat that help protect our health and that taste great too.

What are some ways you bring vegetables and fruits into your family’s meals and snacks?
 
 

by AshleyW on 04/02/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: strategies, kids, mommy blog, nutrition