It may not come naturally, but it’s worth the work. Prodding your kids about produce will produce good things.
Keep at it! Talk to your kids about eating fruits and vegetables. Remind your child to eat some vegetables even though you’ll get an eye rolling response. Don’t give up! Research shows it will work eventually and it’s normal that kids don’t always like what’s good for them the first time they try it or the second or third sometimes. Keep trying. When introducing a new food, or reintroducing one that has been previously refused, just keep going. It may take 20 times, but eventually the food will be familiar to the child, and he will not be so afraid to try it.
Research from Yale University shows that gently prompting children to make healthy food decisions will actually work. In a recent study they tracked what elementary students picked on their own when school lunch programs offered options from each of the food groups. They found that only 60% of the children took a serving of fruit that was available. But when the cafeteria workers (at another similar school) asked the kids if they would like fruit or juice with their meals 90% of the students picked out one or the other to have with lunch. And 70% of them ate (or drank) what they’d picked.
Prodding about produce can produce good things!
Alice Lockridge,
MS Phys Ed - Exercise Physiologist for Every Body!
PRO♥FIT