What can possibly make kids listen as that cry rings out from parents everywhere?
BY NIKKI KINGERY / ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
Next to "I love you" and "Go to sleep," the three-word phrase most frequently uttered by parents must be "Eat your vegetables."
It's our battle cry in the endless war with junk food. And kids aren't the only ones losing. Last month, a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that less than a third of American adults eat the recommended two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables each day.
In fact, Mom and Dad's bad habits are often the biggest hurdle in getting kids to eat right, says Lauren Niemes, executive director of the Nutrition Council of Greater Cincinnati.
"The most important factor is for parents to be good role models," she says. When children see parents eating spinach or snacking on an apple instead of chips, it sends a clearer message than preaching.
But even parents with near-perfect diets can be frustrated by their kids' food choices. Take Karen Curtis of Mount Lookout, mother of 18-month-old Will. Curtis, 30, is the wellness program director for the National Institute for Fitness and Sport. With degrees in dietetics and public health, she was confident she'd have no problems getting her son to eat well. But reality was a little harder to swallow.
"I had all this knowledge about different strategies - what to do and what to avoid. But I was really surprised that implementing it can be so hard," Curtis says.
Luckily, she was aware of recent studies saying it often takes 10 to 15 exposures before children will even try a new food. Often they'll do everything from looking at it and smelling it to squishing it in their hands before eventually eating it. Most parents give up after the first few snubs, but persistence is the key.
Curtis has also taken the important step of exposing Will to a variety of foods right away.
Niemes says the toddler years are critical to establishing good habits.
"If kids don't develop a taste for fruits and vegetables early on, they quickly fall into the 'Happy Meal syndrome,' where all they want is fat, salt and sugar."
It's tough not to get frustrated when her son turns up his nose at vegetables, Curtis says, but she's learned to be realistic in her expectations and not come to every meal with a checklist. Rather, she looks at how her son is eating over the course of a week or two.
"Toddlers, especially, can seem so erratic in their eating patterns," nibbling one day and gorging the next, she says. "But they're really pretty good at regulating how much they should eat."
Even the CDC broke last month from its "5 a day" campaign for a broader approach called "Fruits and Vegetables - More Matters." For parents, the new strategy stresses the importance of having a "colorful plate" with a variety of foods, and offering fruit and vegetables at every meal, including snack time.
One great way to get your children interested in eating well is to let them in on the cooking.
"Involve and engage your kids in preparation," Niemes says. Children get much more excited about meals they help make. Younger children can help wash vegetables, for instance, and older kids can cut them up, with supervision.
While Curtis is doing all she can to teach her son good eating habits, she says she's not above sneaking vegetables into dishes, such as zucchini muffins, or hiding them under a bit of cheese. One of her favorite resources is Missy Chase Lapine, author of "The Sneaky Chef."
Lapine offers ideas such as adding puréed white beans to macaroni and cheese or finely grated carrots to pasta sauce.
Health experts say parents should avoid power struggles during meal time or labeling food as "good" and "bad," which can link emotional issues to food and lead to trouble later. But on occasions when patience, persistence and subterfuge fail, parents may fall back on another three-word phrase that works wonders: "Or no dessert."
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