Studies have shown that engaging your child in activities and books that expose them to healthy eating concepts, can actually be an effective way of influencing your child’s eating behaviours.
The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2019) found during a randomised control study including 337 children aged 2-5 years, that exposing children to stories and play around an unfamiliar vegetable, increased the consumption of that particular vegetable.
Imagine if, by reading and talking about the animals and vegetables in ‘I’d Rather Eat Chocolate’, you are able to positively influence the variety of vegetables your child is willing to eat? Furthermore, by engaging your child in vegetable shopping using their very own carry bag, your child is intentionally choosing their vegetables for the week and may even enjoy some food preparation with you.
The recipes included at the end of ‘I’d Rather Eat Chocolate’, generously provided by That Sugar Movement and Food Matters, are examples of how you can use vegetables to create tasty child-friendly veggie meals.
My suggestion is to have a bit of fun trying different vegetable recipes – knowing that some will be winners and some won’t be. Persevere, and remind your child how eating that particular vegetable can help your child.
Eg ‘if you ate crunchy carrot like bunnies all bright, you’d have excellent eyesight to see in the night’. Wouldn’t you love to see so well in the night you can spot things in the dark?
This is just one example where you can bring the child back to the book to reinforce some of the wonderful benefits of eating our veggies.
