Tips For Getting More Nutrients Into Your Kids' Meals

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We all know how important it is for our kids to eat a healthy, nutrient-packed diet, but as anyone who’s ever brought up a fussy toddler will know, feeding your kids the things that are good for them is rarely easy.

If you’re currently dealing with a fussy eater and you’re tearing your hair out trying to work out how to ensure they get all of the vitamins and minerals they need to grow up healthy and strong, check out these simple techniques for increasing your kids’ nutrient intake:

Hide the Good Stuff

Veggies, in particular, can be a tough sell for children, who prefer sweeter foods and often dislike the texture of vegetables, but that doesn’t mean that you should throw in the towel and admit defeat, especially when getting them to eat their veggies is so simple. Sneak the veggies into the meals you know they love. The best way to do this is by pureeing onions, carrots, and spinach, and more and then adding them to soups, sauces and stews and even smoothies. The kids won’t know they’re there, so there’ll be no tantrums at the dinner table.

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Juice It

Most kids love fruit juice, so it makes sense to take advantage of this fact by adding more unusual fruits and vegetables, which offer up different nutrients to the ones you find in apple or orange juice, into their morning drink. Take a look at this guide to choosing the best masticating juicer and then use your purchase to create extremely nutrient rich juices that, if you pack with lots of their favorite fruits, the kids will love.

Have Fun with Food

If your kids hate broccoli, instead of trying to force them to eat it or punishing them when they don’t, try the fun approach. Take the foods they don’t like and turn them into works of art on the plate. Turn broccoli into trees and serve them with turkey dinosaurs who are roaming through the forest or spiralizer your carrots and use them as the hair on a fruit, veggie and meat face – the options are endless and if you get it right your kids will love eating their fruits and veggies because they’ll look good on the plate and the kids will be having a good time with them.

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Let the Kids Cook

I know, the thought of letting the kids loose in the kitchen and the resulting mess isn’t exactly the most appealing, but if you want your kids to eat more of the good stuff and you want them to develop a healthy relationship with food, you need to get them involved. It’s almost always the case that kids who have had a hand in preparing food, even if they’ve only stirred the soup, are more likely to eat it because they feel a sense of accomplishment. Not only that but if they help in the kitchen, kids will learn more about the food on their plate, which will help them to have good cooking skills and a healthy diet in the future.

Have you convinced your kids to eat more nutritious food? What are your best tricks for sneaking in more veggies?