my 8 year old wont eat any vegetables does anyone have any ideas on how to get him to even try some?

Answer 1

I had the same problem. My children have to take at least 3 good bites of everything before they can leave the table. And if they refused they stayed at the table. Of course they can only stay there for so long, so if they did not do this after 1 hour of setting, when it was meal time, they found they had to eat the left over veggies and the new ones. It worked after 3 days. They where tired of eating 6 different veggies at diner and decided taking 3 bites of 3 veggies was a better deal.. hope this helps...

Answer 2

Oh boy- I had the same problem last year when my son was 7. He ate no veggies except corn. He would purposely throw up in his plate and cry if I tried to make him eat them. I mean 2 green bean halves or 3 peas, not a lot. My husband and I had to be very firm- we would give him a couple veggies at dinner and tell him he had to eat them or he would go to bed for the night. He ate everything else and then left the table to bed. Then we tried "you can't leave the table until they are gone", so he started the puking thing. I finally told him if he puked at the table again I would make him eat that! I think he actually believed it because he started eating the veggies- gagging and retching the whole time. Once he started getting them down then we would tell him if he wretched he would get more. It took us a good 6 months but he does eat veggies now. He whines sometimes and we have given in to the fact that he flat out hates green beans but he will eat the others without too much problem. He is an average healthy weight but I think he needs the vitamins you get from veggies- even if it's only a few- plus this also helped because he would never try anything new- even a dessert. Now he has to try one bite of new things and likes a lot more stuff. He was so picky!! Good Luck- this is a tough one.

Answer 3

I don't like most vegetables either. A friend suggested this and I've been doing it for a couple of decades now. I have a small food processor and I put a serving of frozen veggies in it and process them until they are about the size of dust. I put this vegetable dust into whatever I am cooking, spaghetti sauce, canned soup, gravy, scrambled eggs, whatever. The vegetable taste and texture is hardly noticeable. I don't have to like the veggies but I get the nutrients from them and it would probably work for a fussy kid. I don't like most fruits either. I get my fruit portions by mixing them in a blender with yogurt and making smoothie. I put in unsweetened cranberry juice so they won't be so sickeningly sweet. But that's probably not a problem for kids.

Answer 4

I saw a cooking segment a while back that showed various ways to hide the veggies so your child does not know he is eating them. Pureeing them in a blender while using flavors he likes to hide them works for most. There are many tips on some of the food channel shows. One favorite I have seen more than once is using a pasta sauce to cover the veggie puree which has multiple uses including home made pizza or mac and cheese which are kids favorites.

Answer 5

You can puree them into spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce. That's the sneakiest way.

Try weird ones like okra in shrimp gumbo. Sugar snap peas are sweet and not like some veggies.

Cheese sauce, ranch dip, deep fried -- good enough ideas, but all the bad stuff outweighs the good in the veggies. I love things like spinach dip, but I make it with heavy cream! Better to just make him take a vitamin.

To give you hope -- I didn't eat any vegetables while growing up, but I eat them all the time now. Mostly bc I think I should and I don't want to get fat, but I do eat them! Also, if he does try something and says he does not like it, don't push him. I still hate all things mushrooms, I can taste them if they are ground up or just in a sauce. My mother cooked everything with cream of mushroom soup. Yuck.

Answer 6

My girl is the same, I just keep putting the vegetables on her plate, what we are eating, along with something else she does like and eventually she trys and likes and so another vegetable is added to her "I like this" food. Dont worry all kids are different and as they grow and change so does their likes and dislikes,a very normal part of life.

Answer 7

Sneak them in wherever you can. I shred carrots and put them in meatloaf and hamburgers,they make the meat a little moister and the flavor isn't too overwhelming. It doesn't solve the problem of getting him to try but he will get the benefit. Try carrot sticks,cauliflower and green pepper strips raw with ranch dressing as a dip. Put some kind of vegetable in casseroles,like peas in tuna casserole. If he is eating plenty of fruit,the lack of vegetables won't do any harm.

Answer 8

I went through this.... Have him go to the store with you and help pick a few things out.... we have fruit/vegi parties at my house.. we pick 3-4 new things to try and cut them up to about 2bites worth and put them on a plate and let the kids say what we try first and so on... but the thing is that the adults have to eat some too... and it is okay if you don't like it but you have to eat what you put in your mouth. It has worked for us and my pickist kid is trying more things now.... before he liked some meat and cheese and potatoes where the only thing he would eat.

Answer 9

I have a 5 year old so I don't know if this will work on a 8 year old. But I tell my daughter she can have a snack before bed if she dosn't at least try them. And if that don't work I take her tv out of her room. Start taking things from your child as disapline until he desides to at least try them.. If he trys and you can tell he really dosn't like them then don't force him. Get him on vitaman's to make up the healthy portion of the diet that he is not getting. It works for me Hope you find a solution that works for you.

Answer 10

Well atleast he not like me when I was 8 no vegies or fruit but now that I am older I've come to my sense and I eat some fruit and vegetables.