How to I convince my 5yr old to eat fruit and veg. His diet is limited but ok.?

Question

Needs to eat a more varied diet but would be prepared to not eat at all than eat many foods. Some tips from other parents who have experienced this would be good!

He ate a fantastic diet until he was 2 1/2 years old. He stopped quiet quickly and we put it down to teething and weren't too stressed about it. He LOVES food like pasta with pesto, porridge, smoked mackerel [ no sauce ] wholemeal bread and bananas, plain rice roast meats with yorkshire puddings. Hates most fruits and veg to the point he physically retches at the thought of having a meal at his Nana's who punishes him for not eating the food she cooks. Some people say he will outgrow it and not to make it an issue. I do cook good wholesome meals and he can take it or leave it but often leaves it. He is not fed junk. I don't keep snack food, sweets, crisps etc in my house and I do not feed him an alternative. AM I ALONE!!!!Thanks for your answers so far

We always sit down at the table to eat together.

Answer 1

my only advice is, don't force him, my parents did and i haven't eaten fruit and veg for nearly 20 years cos of this.

Answer 2

Cut out the sweets and crap and give ONLY fruit and veg.

Be cruel to be kind, stick broccoli in your ears and ride the tantrums till he realises that it is all he is going to get. He has had five years to come to expect NOT to have to eat fruit and veg, so it may take five years of nonsense before he gets to like it.

But look at it this way, if you start now, he'll be a healthy ten year old, the longer you leave it the worse it gets; you are the parent - enforce what is best for him (for his own good) and tune out the tantrums.

If you had started this when he was two and a half, this wouldn't be a problem now, after all, he only eats what YOU give him. He won't go hungry for long, children learn faster than adults!

Answer 3

For veg, puree did work wonders with mine:
brocolis and potatoes (1/3 2/3), carrots and potatoes (1/2 1/2), colliflowers and potatoes (1/2 1/2). Soup is also a good trick, as stirfry mixed with rice or pasta.
For the dessert, try fruit puree (different colors), drawing a different thing each time. My children used to love clowns, boats, mice etc...

Answer 4

My 2 year old loves dips and sauces so you could try doing it like finger food with dips say a yogurt dip for fruit and tomato based dip for veg.

She also loves the way really plump grapes pop in her mouth when she bites them so make a point of how the food reacts whether it squelches or pops etc.

When I was young the only way I would eat most veg was mixed up in mash.

Answer 5

I cooked mince with finely chopped carrots, onions and turnip then served it to my son rolled up in a cooked cabbage leaf on a bed of mashed potato and told him he was eating a "Caterpillar in the Snow"; result? - a clean plate! - but I saw a lot of those as he wasn't a picky eater anyway and would pretty much try anything I offered.

From a very early age I involved him in the choosing of meals, shopping for ingredients, preparations and helping to cook meals.

He's grown up with a very healthy (and informed) attitude to food.

He is 25 now and a great and inventive cook.

He says cooking relaxes him after a hard day at work (bricklaying!)

...and I'm so proud of him!

(Not just 'cos he can cook - 'cos I'm his Ma!)

Answer 6

Let him prepare them himself. Make funny faces out of them - two slices of banana for eyes, carrot triangle for a nose, half a pinapple ring for a mouth and so on. I used to prepare what I called stick tea which consisted of small pieces of fruit and raw vegetable cut up on a plate. My children than ate this with a cocktail stick. Sometimes we would make traffic lights out red, yellow and green piecesof fruit and vegetables. Might sound like a choking hazard, but I never experienced any problems. The secret is to eat with your children and set a good example.

Answer 7

attempt mashing the veg all mutually, then pipe it onto a baking tray with a famous man or woman nozzle on a piping bag then placed it into the oven till the exterior is going golden brown and crispy. stunning - and he won't recognize it as veg. Failing that - enable him become in contact contained in the coaching of the nutrition, he might take an activity and start to prefer to attempt it. stable success!

Answer 8

Make them fun. Cut them into cool shapes and have a healthy dip to go along with them. Designate a "picnic" snack time where you have just those kinds of foods and it's a special occasion. Tell him that they'll make him run faster.

Answer 9

get tough and make sundays dinners every week.

or add bended veg into stuff like pasta meals. make the veg into a puree and mix into the bolognaise sauce

also if they see their parents eating it they are more likely to eat the stuff. set a good example.

Answer 10

make homemade soup, its really easy and then blend it up so that he does`nt realise whats in it. other than that keep putting veg on his plate, but dont make a fuss if he does`nt eat it.one day he might surprise you! and maybe get him involved in preparing and cooking the food.good luck, but he is a completly normal 5 year old!!!

Answer 11

Tell him Sportacus from Lazy Town eats fruit and look at him and what he can do!! This works with my three year old. Or use his favaourite footballer or other TV hero.