Imagine a day when your child eats everything you give him for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, and that too without a fuss. Be it fruits or vegetables, they gladly down it. Wouldn’t that be an ideal day for you as parents? Sadly, very few of us have such ideal days. This is because 70% of kids find fruits and vegetables boring and uninteresting to eat, thus making it a task for parents. Let us understand why are fruits and vegetables so good for your kid and some tips for kids diet on how to include these fruits and vegetables in a healthy way.

1. Nutritional power house
   Loaded with a gamut of nutrients such as such as vitamin A, vitamin C, most of the B vitamins, and minerals like potassium, iron, and magnesium, fruits and vegetables are a natural pharmacy for your growing child. Certain vegetables such as dried beans, peas, and lentils also provide protein.
2. Ensures optimal health
   Fruits and vegetables also contain more than 2,000 types of phytonutrients – natural compounds that offer health benefits ranging from keeping eyes healthy to possibly warding off cancer and heart disease, thus ensuring good health not just now, but even in the long run.
3. Helps maintain a balanced weight
   Since most fruits and vegetables contain loads of water and dietary fiber they are both filling yet satisfying. This ensures that kids are full without overeating. Apart from this, they are also free of any sugars or solid fat, yet nutrient dense i.e., they provide a large amount of nutrients while adding on a minimal amount of calories. If fruits and veggies are actually this good, what can be done to make the kids eat more of them? We shall tell you
4. Set an example
   Charity begins at home and so does healthy eating. Set an example to your child by filling your plate with veggies over dinner and picking a fruit as a snack. The kids will soon follow slew.
5. Involve them
   Take your kids to a farmers market. Let them pick the fruits of veggies of their choice. Start a mini garden where, you can introduce them to organic planting/ farming techniques so that they know from where and how their food comes to them. This brings about a feeling of oneness between the kids and the food they eat.
6. Cook with them
   Cooking with your kids also induces a fun element. Let them grate the carrots, peel the peas, slicing the bananas. Along with getting the kids excited about eating what’s prepared by them, such activities also help them develop their fine motor skills. So that’s hitting two birds with one stone!
7. Reward them
   Make this a rule: Should the kids have eaten their fruits and vegetables religiously through the week, the weekend has in store for them a surprise (and truly make it one). This way they initially look forward to the surprise while eating healthy along the way, but soon eating healthy will become a habit for them, surprise or no surprise.
8.  Be creative
   Creative cooking is one of the best tips for kids to include these fruits and vegetables in there daily food intake. We know how easily monotony can get to kids. So, make sure their plates and bowls are always full of colorful fruits and veggies. If not that, try new dishes regularly that are filled with the nutritional goodness of fruits and veggies. You can alternate between pasta, sandwiches, rolls, cutlets, milkshakes, salads, themed dishes etc. The list is endless since creativity has no boundaries.

Though some parents cave into their children’s demands of NO fruit and veggies, we should follow these healthy tips for kids and also remember that sometimes the most unappealing things are the healthiest.

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