I understand that eating healthy and nutritious is not something you can just preach and get results instantly. It’s a journey you take along with your family towards building healthy eating habits. It needs conscious, sensible and sound decision making from the parents to inculcate a life-long good eating habit in their kids. My husband and I as a team have taken various steps and devised numerous strategies at different stages in our kids development to make sure eating healthy is not an option but it’s mandatory. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. Because we believe that you cannot force anything on to a child and expect it to work.
Here are a few of my tried and tested strategies that have worked wonders for us;
8 Easy Strategies to get your kids to Eat Healthy:
1. Include Kids in Meal Planning:
We always have a sit down family discussion on menu planning and over a period of time we have revised and revisited the menu many times. As my kids grow and their tastes change, we tweak the menu from time to time to make room for changes. It is very important that all the decisions are taken with everyone’s consensus, however young the family member might be. There are disputes raised, arguments posed and some compromises are arrived at but we finally make sure that it has a healthy twist. When kids are involved in the decision making, there is a better chance of success and they take the onus of sticking to the decisions made. So, give them some autonomy in deciding a few dishes and see the magic. Involving kids in meal planning is my sure shot way to get them on my side to add a healthy twist to almost any dish.
2. Tricks and tips to increase the daily dose of vegetables in their diet:
This is the second most helpful tip I want to share with you. All of us have our own likes and dislikes when it comes to food. Even as adults we have preferences in vegetables we like and don’t like, so no wonder it is difficult to make kids eat all the vegetables as per our conditions. Here is where we need to bring in some innovation in our thinking. Here’s what I do to make sure my kids get a good dose of all the vegetables;
- I incorporate all their not-so-favourite vegetables like bottle gourd, radish, beetroot etc in parathas. Grate them and mix it in the dough and roll it out into parathas and they don’t mind one bit.
- I make cutlets with lots of grated beetroot, beans and carrot with a bit of potato for binding it all together. It’s a big hit with my kids.
- I make koftas made out of mixed vegetables and steam them in my kuzhipaniyam pan and they are quite happy to devour it.
- Gravy is an area I use to my advantage; I add all the bland vegetables my kids usually dislike like pumpkin/ashgourd, bottle gourd, snake gourd etc along with onions and tomatoes, saute them and grind it into a gravy base. A great and easy way to incorporate loads of veggies.
- I make khichidi with lots of grated vegetables which are so minute that they aren’t even visible and the vegetables don’t alter the taste much either.
- Soups can be leveraged in a big way to incorporate veggies too. Just add a dash of cream/milk to your pumpkin, corn or mixed vegetable soup and make it palatable.
Therefore, instead of getting frustrated that my kids don’t eat the various subzi’s in the traditional form we usually make, just get a bit more creative and you can get them to eat all of those veggies and more.
3. Get Creative & Add a slight twist to the original recipe to sneak-in loads of vegetables:
I make sure I give a twist to all the different cuisines we try at home to incorporate as many vegetables as I can.
- I make vegetable lasagna using brinjal, pumpkin, bottle gourd and corn.
- Palak is a huge hit with béchamel – white sauce pastas at my home. Instead of maida, I use whole wheat flour and instead of heavy cream, I used milk for the sauce.
- Homemade whole-wheat pizzas are always made with lots of toppings, literally drowning them with an overload of vegetables like corn, palak, capsicum, onion, tomatoes, olives etc.
- Mexican Quesedillas are a family favourite. All we do is give our own twist by making whole wheat tortillas (basically chapathi) and shred a humungous amount of cabbage,carrot, palak, capsicum, onion and tomato and any vegetable we have and add a good helping of cheese over the top, flip it on the tava to melt the cheese and voila…All the veggies disappear not gruntingly but with a huge grin on their faces.
- I make whole wheat pancakes and use country brown sugar instead of white sugar and maida.
- I also make my own burger buns, whole wheat bread and homemade jams and sauces.
4. Making Kids a part of Health Care Sessions:
If we have a chance to attend any health workshop or session we make it a point to attend as a family so the kids hear from the experts directly and are more willing to comply and agree when it comes from an informed person. We have seen in our experience that kids are more likely to listen and agree to the view points when it comes from an expert, someone other than a parent (because they always eye parents with suspicion that we are the green monsters out to get them to eat yucky stuff in the name of health). Therefore, it’s always better to take them along rather than trying to convey the message yourself…It has a better impact this way.
5. Eating as a Family:
Can’t stress enough on this one. Another very important thing we do is eat as a family as much as we possibly can; we are mostly able to achieve this for breakfasts and dinners. This way when we eat fruits and vegetables, kids automatically do too. We make eating fruits in the morning a compulsory thing by sitting together and finishing a bowlful of seasonal fruits. When they see their parents and everyone else doing something, it gets done without much of a struggle. They start seeing it as a family thing which is indisputable and it becomes easy to adopt in the long run. Not following something yourself and only forcing kids to do so never works.
6. Make eating Salads a Family Routine:
We also make it mandatory to eat a big serving of raw vegetables in the form of salads as often as possible. This also is done as a family and not just for the kids or just for adults. All of us sit down to have salads as a meal together.
7. Cooking together as a family:
One thing that always works for us, is cooking together as a family. All of us including my kids are big on cooking and innovating in the kitchen and that makes it easier to discuss and plan weekday and weekend menus. Masterchef Australia is a family favourite and we have a large collection of cookbooks which shows our love for cooking.
8. Presentation of Food & a fancy name can work wonders:
Speaking of Masterchef, a little twist in presentation of your dish goes a long way, at least for my kids. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous, just give a fancy name to your regular fare and watch the food disappear.
I surely hope you would find my tips useful in motivating your kids to eat nutritious and healthy meals.
Finally, my one advice would be to have fun with the vegetables and not be stuck in a rut. The more fun we have cooking, the more interesting the food becomes for kids.
I would like to thank Geethica Mehra who blogs at https://thoughtsbygeethica.com  for introducing me on her blog. I also take this opportunity to introduce Mahak who blogs at http://babyandbeyond.in/blog  Do check out these amazing bloggers.
I am participating in the ‘Get Fit, Stay Fit’ blog party with Bon Happetee!
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How nice! I liked the way you make cooking and healthy eating fun. I agree..its all about being creative with food when it comes to kids.
Absolutely Deepa. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me .
This post sure comes from the experience of a mother who is inspired to make her kids eat healthy. We sit down for our meals together too and do pay heed to each other’s likes and dislikes while planning a meal. Your pic with your son is just like our kitchen scene. My son loves helping me around too!
Thank you varsha. Your family dynamics seems more like ours. Great going. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment.
Wow.Lucky kids there to get home made buns and pizzaa base! Got to try the veg kofta!
Aww, thank you so much for your kind words. Please do try. It’s delicious.
Wow that’s awesome, I loved all your tips and infact I love to bake for my girl
Thank you so much dear. Loved reading your views.
What I liked the most was your advice to involve children in deciding the menu for the family. That goes a long way towards increasing children’s esteem for their parents and the chances of their being more amenable to discipline definitely increase. And then again the idea of getting experts to talk to children is also very commendable.
Thank you so much for that wonderful feedback Jay. These are my personally tried and tested ways that work absolutely well. Glad to know you agree with them.
Wow, Kaplana! A family sitting on the table just to discuss food and menu. Amazing! I loved all the points that you have mentioned about and will try to incorporate them in my and my family’s daily diet.
Awesome, you know this post again reiterates the same belief that small tweaks here and there can make things healthier. I often knead dough in spinach puree or beetroot juice to bring funky colors and health punch. Lovely tips.
Absolutely Dipika. You are bang on…thats the way to go. Thanks so much and so Glad your thoughts resonate with my post.
Wow, Kalpana! I am hungry again even after having eaten my breakfast after reading your post. So many amazing options to include veggies in the recipes.
Thank you so much Aesha. So lovely to read your comments. Very encouraging words. So glad you liked them.
That was awesome kalpana. I thought I was innovative enough to make sure my kids eat a lot of veggies ( by innovation i mean i never gave them a choice to not eat whatever is prepared at home and so they started eating everything except may be the bitter guard. 🙂 )
I really like the way you make food a family affair by involving the kids right from the planning stage.
The photographs are also really good.
I love the suggestions! Only recently I have added vegetables to parathas. Now to make my own bread. Thanks for the tips.
I really loved your ideas & efforts on eating clean food with a twist of innovation & taste as well, Kalpana.
Kudos to you & your family too!
Very unique post Kalpana. I like your tip pf having the family eat together. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Prerna. So glad you liked it.
Wow wonderful post dear with so many valuable suggestions. I agree healthy eating habit development is not as easy as seems and it requires bit of creativity and innovation. I like the idea to use the vegetables in parathas, with this way we can add those vegetables in our diet that we usually not eat.
Thank you so much Surbhi. So glad you liked my post.
Great tips! I follow many of these too. I am impressed you make your own burger buns at home..wow!
Thanks mahak…it all started with the harsh realisation of chemicals loaded in everyday processed food.
That is such a superb post, Kalpana! Mothers who use innovative ways to cook veggies, have hardly any problem feeding their kids. The kids gobble up all those veggies they hate with much love!
My SIL has always done that…Earlier, when her son was little, she would give those dishes fancy names, too! And, now that he is 9, she encourages him to help her in the kitchen, which he does happily, and this makes it easy to get him to follow a healthy diet.
Thanks Shilpa. It really does help having kids involved in the cooking process. We all cook together as many meals as we possibly can and it is so much fun.
Awesome. The consciousness raised in children today will go a long way
Absolutely Shivani. Thank you.
Wow loved your post.. I too follow some tips shared by you. Master Chef Australia is an amazing show where my husband and I enjoy watching. I mix veggies not consumed by my kid and husband in pav bhaji, dhan shak, halwa and soups. You are a creative and wonderful cook. Do share some of the recipes with brinjal and pumpkin in. Will surely try them
Sure Shruti. Thank you so much. If you are into italian cuisine then eggplant parmesan is a wonderful and tasty dish to add your brinjals in. Pumpkin soups are a big hit with my kids with toasted homemade bread. I also use pumpkin as a base for any gravy which might take the slight sweetness of pumpkin. Do try them. Will share more of them sppn.
Thanks Kalpana..will try this for sure.
My favourite post so far! I love everything you shared, Kalpana!
When the entire family sits together for a meal, it makes a big difference.
Asking kids their likes and dislikes involves them in meal planning , and they enjoy eating what they chose.
I absolutely love the innovative way you incorporate veggies into as many things as you can.
I am going to try your gravy idea.
Thank you so much Mayuri. Means a lot to hear that this was your favorite post today. Involving kids in the cooking process is a sure-shot way to get them to eat healthy. Do try them Mayuri. Hope you like it.
Wow… What an eye-opening post. With so many twists and variations I am sure kids can’t help but eat veggies. Very clever tips, kalpana. Can you please share the recipe of lasagna using these veggies. We make whole wheat bhakri pizza too, but your tips are so much more interesting. Will try them surely.
Sure Anshu. I think i have written a post on lasagna…let me check and share the link with you. And thank you so much for such a wonderful feedback. Glad to hear you make homemade wholewheat pizzas too. Its so good, isn’t it?