Getting your children to eat vegetables can be challenging. As a parent or caregiver, you want to provide the most nutrient-dense foods possible for your child’s growth and development. Some youngsters are happy to try new meals and veggies, while others are not so easily convinced.

We all know that eating fruit and vegetables daily is vital for a well-balanced diet, but just how do we encourage kids to eat more fruits and vegetables? Here’s some tips from the extensive research completed by the South Australian Government’s Department for Health and Ageing.

Eat the rainbow. ‘Eating a Rainbow’ promotes good health as it ensures variety, with each fruit and vegetable providing essential vitamins, minerals and phyto-chemicals. You can also make it fun, by seeing how many colours you can fit into a meal.

Sneaky veg. During the cooler months, hiding grated or blended vegetables in pasta sauces, casseroles and soups is an easy way to increase vegetable consumption from the whole family. Sweet and savoury toasties are also a winner try a cinnamon and banana toastie for something sweet, or a cheese and tomato toastie for something savoury.

Who doesn’t love pizza? Try topping pita bread or English muffins with tomato paste, cheese, capsicum, onion, mushrooms, pineapple and any extra vegetables that your child might like on their pizza. Encourage them to create their own pizza too, they will be proud to eat it once making it.

Smoothies. Blending extra fruits and vegetables into a smoothie is an easy (and delicious) way to boost fruit and veg intake.

Lunch boxes made easy

The morning rush means that lunch boxes can be a parent’s worst nightmare. The Department of Health and Human Services have developed a Pick & Mix method which inspires families to create healthy lunch box. This includes picking and mixing one tasty option from each of the five core food groups to create a healthy lunchbox every day, including:

1. Fruit (e.g. fresh, frozen, pureed and canned in natural juice)
2. Vegetables, legumes and beans
3. Milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives
4. Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds
5. Grain foods such as cereals, or multigrain breads

And don’t forget to pack the water bottle, with plain water only.

Image sourced from Healthy Eating in the National Quality Standard - A guide for early childhood education and care services.

If you are concerned about your child’s nutrition you can also reach out to your GP or a dietician. Our Premier Family Extras Cover covers nutrition and dietetics, you can explore our full range of extras covers to find something that suits you and your family.

Attribution 1:

• Author: Government of South Australia - Department of Health and Ageing
• Title: Help your family eat a rainbow of fruit and vegetables
• Link:https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/f5582f804378f823b254ffc9302c1003/Eat
• _a_Rainbow_family_pamphlet+1.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-f5582 f804378f823b254ffc9302c1003-nzKNS.G
• Changes made - formatting & wording
• CC License: CC BY-NC-ND: This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

Attribution 2:

• Author: Victoria State Government (The Education State - Nutrition Australia)
• Title: Healthy Eating in the National Quality Standard - A guide for early childhood education and care services.
• Link:https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/regulation/HealthyEatin gNQS.pdf
• Changes made - formatting & wording
• CC License: CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.