This page will help you learn how to get your child to eat vegetables. Whether your child is a chronic picky eater or they are simply going through a phase where they have aversions to a few choice foods, it is possible to provide your child with a well-rounded diet without inciting tantrums.

Getting your child to eat vegetables can range from easy to complex in difficulty depending on your child's level of defiance at meals. This process requires consistency and firmness in it's implementation and the entire family should participate in this journey together. Before you get started on this task you should have a basic knowledge of you're child's likes and dislikes. Make a list of their favorite foods as well as a list of foods that they need for normal, healthy development. If they are already eating piles of spaghetti with sauce, you may not need to worry about them getting additional raw tomatoes. If your child already guzzles glasses of orange juice at breakfast, you may not need to concentrate as much on vegetables that provide vitamin C.

Remember that every child is different and that children often go through phases where they go through strong aversions to certain foods. You may want to supplement your child's diet with a multivitamin and let your child's doctor know if your child's pickyness continues.http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/hmeaters.htm

Most children have eating quarks. Some children will eat the broccoli flower but not the stem. Some children will only eat raw carrots instead of cooked. Some children are more sensitive to odd textures, while others may have natural aversions to certain food smells. When getting your child to eat vegetables, it is important to not create a stressful environment for you or the child. Picky eating is more likely when parents punish, bribe, or reward their children for eating.http://www.ucsfchildrenshospital.org/education/picky_eaters/index.html

Scientist believe that picky eating concerning fruits and vegetables is a natural evolutionary mechanism that prevents children from eating poisonous berries off of trees or other dangerous plants when we all lived in the forest years ago. http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/hmeaters.htm However, now that we have safe sources of fruits and vegetables in local markets, we must override our children's biology to ensure that they receive the necessary nutrients that are required for growth.

Some ways to create a non-stressful environment around fruit and vegetable consumption are:

• Don't punish your child for not eating their fruits and vegetables. Pickyness is natural and they are merely acting on their instincts.
• Don't reward your child for eating their fruits and vegetables, especially not with the promise of dessert. A child who is rewarded with sugary, high fat foods will learn to value these above the fruits and vegetables themselves.http://www.ucsfchildrenshospital.org/education/picky_eaters/index.html Also, if there are siblings involved that are not also being rewarded, the siblings may view this as a method of punishment.
• Avoid talking about your child's aversion to vegetables in front of them.
• Keep meal times non-confrontational. Provide an array of foods that contain vegetables, and allow your child to pick. For example, you may offer spaghetti with tomato sauce, steamed broccoli, raw carrots with dip, and a salad. If your child chooses not to eat any of the foods presented, then there are no other options. You will not become a short-order cook.

Children quickly pick-up on their parents' eating habits. Look at your own diet and evaluate if you are setting a good example. Consider the following points:

• Do you eat your required daily amount of vegetables?
• Are the vegetables you eat fried or covered in butter?
• Do you eat a wide assortment of vegetables, or do you just stick to one or two specific ones you like?
• Do you eat less vegetables so you can fit in dessert?
• Does your spouse eat plenty of vegetables?
• Do any older children in your family also have aversions to vegetables, or perhaps they have an eating disorder that causes food stress in the house?

At meals, you should be showing your child that vegetable are delicious and healthy. Set an example by snacking on vegetables throughout the day instead of choosing chips or cookies. Snack on vegetables with your child and allow your child to watch you cooking with vegetables. Also make sure that any older siblings are in on the act. Younger sibling will often parrot an older siblings eating habits, for better or for worse. Talk to older siblings to make sure that they are encouraging healthy eating behaviors in their younger siblings.

Children are notorious for loving finger foods. They are simple, easy to eat, and children can pick through them at their own pace. Young children will often have aversions to cooked vegetables because of texture. However, a child with an aversion to cooked carrots may love them raw with dip. The following are ways that you can simplify your vegetable-based meals so that your child isn't intimidated by too many ingredients:

• Create a dip tray

Place carrots, celery, broccoli florets, and cherry tomatoes in a muffin tin. In empty spaces, pour small amounts of a selection of dips. Bring out as an appetizer before dinner when your child is their hungriest. The wide selection gives your child choice, while satiating their typical toddler grazing instinct.http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t030800.asp You can also include some non-traditional vegetable dips such as fruit preserves and guacamole.

• Don't mix vegetables of varying textures'. Some toddlers will just never tolerate squishy cherry tomatoes being mixed with crunchy carrots. If you create a salad for your child, keep this in mind and keep it simple. You can even allow your child to make their own salad. Keep fatty dressings and extras such as cheese down to a minimum.

Sometimes children will eat vegetables as long as they don't actually look like vegetables. The following are some ways that you can dress up your child's plate to take their attention off avoiding vegetables:

• Top vegetables with things like cheese, yogurt, cream cheese or peanut butter.http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t030800.asp
• Steam any greens, as it often makes them taste sweeter.
• Add vegetables to favorite foods such as tacos, pizza, and spaghetti sauce.
• Allow your child to make their own spaghetti sauce by combining canned plain tomato sauce with diced peppers, onions, and garlic. Simmer the ingredients on top of a stove for 15-20 minutes or until all of the added ingredients are soft.
• Add shredded zucchini, pumpkin, or carrots to muffin or pancake mix.http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,6131,00.html
• Create a salsa out of peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and basil for your child to put on their chips.
• Add mashed, baked zucchini to macaroni and cheese

In addition, there are many helpful cook books now available that teach you to hide vegetables in your child's food. However, you should not rely on this as the only method of getting your child to eat vegetables. A child will learn healthier eating habits if they learn about vegetables and develop a taste for them through experimentation and eating them without camouflage.