Did you know that half of your plate each meal should be fruits and vegetables? And that goes for children, too! Meeting the daily recommended allowance of vegetables can be a bit of a challenge for some people. Imagine the creative thinking and bribery it takes for parents to get their children to eat their carrots, green beans and brussel sprouts. For every genius idea mom and dad have, the child has one, too.
Think back to when you were young. How many of you hid your peas in your mashed potatoes, spread your broccoli out across your plate or fed your dog your carrots? I did. Now that I’m a parent, I’ve also been guilty of resorting to sly behavior to get Evan to eat his vegetables. I’ve chopped and diced and hidden them in foods; served carrots or green beans first and left the chicken and pasta for later; added salt, butter and other seasonings to mask the flavor; created vegetable collages on his plate that resemble funny faces and animals; and bribed, done acrobats around the room and matched two bites to his one. Sometimes it worked and other times I failed miserably.
While doing some of my “mommy research” online recently, I fell across some scientists who say they have found a solution to this “Vegetable Problem.” As you continue to read, you may say to yourself, “no sh*t,” (as did I), but the real question is: If it was available, would you use it?
A new sugar mist has been created. It’s meant to be sprayed on vegetables to mask their taste and help them go down a little easier. Studies showed preschoolers who were served lightly sweetened vegetables (sprayed with a mist of sugar) ate more compared to those who were served unsweetened vegetables. Seems like a no brainer, right? Anyway, scientists suggest serving sweetened vegetables a few times to get children accustomed to eating them. After three or four times, the sugar should no longer be necessary.
Thankfully, I’m past the war on vegetables, and Evan really enjoys eating them now with just a little sea salt, but what about those parents who have really picky eaters? Does the good outweigh the bad or are there better ways to get children to eat their vegetables?
Are veggies with a mist of sugar better than no vegetables at all? What do you think?
