I know we are focusing on a healthier lifestyle for ourselves .. which with luck will get our kids and families eating healthier too .. BUT

I have so many friends with kids who WONT eat their vegetables .. even most of my nieces and nephews dont .. and yet in my case I have a daughter that isnt fond of meat (she likes chicken .. actually she loves it .. thats my pref too) and will eat veges til the cows come home ..

With so few kids I know that eat vegs Im starting to wonder if my daughter is an oddball rofl ... well ... with me as a mum she probably is heeheehee ... sooo .. my question is .. or questions are:

Do your kids eat vegs? Are there any that you just cant encourage them to eat?? Is it worth the hassle of getting them to eat them?? What do you do when they dont want to eat the vegs??

I dont really mean things like potatoes ... most kids I know will eat them .. but Im talking about the greens (broccoli, beans, peas, brussell sprouts, cabbage etc) and others (corn, carrots, pumpkin etc).

Im allergic to mushrooms and tomatoes ... hate (and wont eat if you paid me lol) leeks, yams, celery, asparagus, artichokes and a few others ... I just like the regular ones lol .. but my daughter eats them .. well .. the toms and mushies.. I dont buy the others rofl ... I do try to encourage her to keep trying new foods ... even the curries that I HATE ... but I have never had to say to her to eat her vegs ..

Anyone else??

Thankfully, I have taught my kids to eat what is given them. They cannot say they do not like a food without tasting it first. If they taste it and don't gag it down, I'll fix it again. If they say they hate it, I'll remind them that they liked it last time. They try to get out of it, but end up eating it. In the long run (this has taken years), my kids are no longer afraid to try new things. They eat what they are served (so they are appreciated when we go to other people's houses to eat). They do not complain. And, best of all, they do like their veggies.

I have one son, and he is a pretty adventurous eater, and has been a good vegetable eater for most of his life. I do believe that vegetable lovers are made and not necessarily born (though some people are probably born loving them as well).

Do your kids eat vegs? Yes. I've given him a variety of vegetables several times a day since he was born. Like Allison, I went against the current philosophy of feeding kids, and I taught him to eat what was served and be thankful for it.

Are there any that you just cant encourage them to eat?? I always insisted that he eat half of every vegetable portion he is served. I also told him from early on to try things he didn't like, because tastebuds change every few months. (I have no idea if this is true or not, but I have a teenager who is healthy and eats his vegetables, so it worked)

Is it worth the hassle of getting them to eat them?? Absolutely. Few things are more important than excellent health, prevention of disease, and proportionate weight.

What do you do when they dont want to eat the vegs?? Encourage, cajole, save it until after dinner when they say they're hungry and give the vegetables to them then, tell them they need it to promote good health and prevent disease, and last but not least insist they eat half. I also found it helpful at various ages to discuss with my son what the benefits of eating various vegetables are ... "spinach is high in vitamin K, and it helps prevent cancer", etc.

I also sneak them in EVERYWHERE ... we shred carrots into our spaghetti sauce, put spinach leaves on hot dogs, dice carrots and celery and add it to meatloaf, etc.

Oh this is a bad subject at my house! One son, 11 years old, and, thankfully, blessed with skinny genes on his father's side - the one and only good thing he could get! But he's picky - very, very picky!

Do your kids eat vegs? Yes - some. He'll eat green beans, corn, and broccoli but only if it's boiled not steamed and covered with cheese sauce and the occasional carrot. He'll also eat fried okra for some odd reason, but only occasionally. The only raw veggie I get down him is cucumber. So, when you get right down to it, the only GOOD veggie he eats is green beans.

Are there any that you just cant encourage them to eat?? Just about everything else. It doesn't help that I don't like a lot of things like asparagras, brussle sprouts and greens. He WILL NOT eat lettuce...won't even taste it...and gags if any sneaks into a sandwich - even a tiny, tiny shred!

Is it worth the hassle of getting them to eat them?? I don't know. Fact is, I don't know HOW to get him to eat them. When he was three we went two full days of trying to get him to eat mashed potatoes. I did the whole "You can't have anything else until you've taken one bite of potato." He went to bed without a single bite of supper. The next day, same thing. He again went to bed hungry - flatly refused - and I KNOW he was actually hungry! He won. I simply couldn't not feed my child over a bite of potato. These days you can usually get one bite of most anything down him...but it's just one bite usually and it's a major undertaking still.

What do you do when they dont want to eat the vegs?? I've pretty much given up trying to get him to eat them. He gets fruit at every meal and I will hide veggies in stuff...chopped broccoli in cassaroles and rice and diced carrots in pasta sauce, etc. But for the most part, he eats fruit and gets the veggies I know he likes. I make him take the one bite off my plate every little bit...just to let him know that there are still foods he needs to learn to eat.

I guess i'm lucky. hehe i have 3 beautiful daughters and they all love their vegis. In my house though we do have a "5 bite rule". Actually my 12 year old came up with it a couple of years ago. So she might have hurt herself in that but we do it now. If you don't like it in 5 bites fine but I refuse to make you anything else.
When my kids were all infants starting out on foods I started with baby vegis first then the fruit then the meat.
I also tell them to go ahead and eat what they don't like on their plates first so then they can have the stuff they love and forget alllll about those things you didnt' like becuase they aren't even on the plate anymore.
My middle child doesnt' like Tomatoes in particular. So i started to grow them myself in my garden. She will eat them now a little bit (which is better then 0 bit) becuase she helps to take care of them and watch them grow.
But now my youngest won't eat the tomatoes becuase some one told her it was bob the tomatoe from Vegi Tales. grrrr
I do very much agree though that when a baby starts eating foods in the beginning to make sure you encourage healthy eating off the bat. I know loads of mothers who will give their baby the pizza crust to chew on while everyone else will be munching on the pizza. Or give them those baby biscuits or even a chicken leg while everyone else is eating right. Makes no sense to me but they aren't my kids so there isn't much i can do but suggest once and then leave it up to mom and dad.

My kids love veggies. In fact they ask for them to always go along with dinner.

Thanks everyone .. Im so glad there are so many kids eating vegs lol .. was started to think I had done something weird in my bringing her up lol ...
From when she was a baby as a single mum it was more a choice of I can afford to buy meat or fresh veg .. not both .. as Im not a big fan of meat I always went for the vegs. So Ashleigh would have lots of vegs and the occasional meat .. she LOVES brussel sprouts and asked me a few weeks ago if there was something wrong with her because she likes them and no-one else in her class does lol... in fact she hasnt met another kid that does (we battle over the brussels .. if i get one more than she does she complains lol).

Was just thinking for baby food .... do you prefer to make your own vegie mix .. or buy those cans/jars of it?? I used to cook up a lot of extra vegs once or twice a week and freeze portions of them to blend up for her when she was a baby.

I do worry about kids that dont eat their veges, I suppose if they are taking multi vitamins then maybe it would be better than nothing, but their immune systems are sooo fragile for sure!

I have 2 daughters ages 3 and 8 and a stepson age 13 -
My 3 year old loves meat and likes limited veggies - like corn, green beans, and peas. She won't eat much else...

My 8 year old love veggies and isn't much into meat aside from chicken - she loves beats <which grosses me out but she loves it> she eats cucmbers, carrots, corn, green beans, loves peas, squash, broccolli, she loves salads, and I'm sure the list goes on...

My step son is a very picky eater - his mom only fixes stuff that comes from a box or basics like hot dogs and cheeseburgers, fast foods, and etc.. So he hates veggies - I always insist he eat atleast one helping of whatever veggie I serve with dinner.

At my meals it is a challenge to please everyone - so I usually offer a cooked veggie and a raw veggie and a fruit. I do insist they have 1 veggie - but make it more of a choice - "which do you want this or this" type of thing - then they feel they have a choice in it too but there is no choice to opt out.

My kids will pretty much eat anything I put in front of them. Of course I have 2 teenage boys and a teenage girl. My little 1 yr old is picky though..if she doesn't like it she'll just spit it all over me...but i'm lucky with her so far she loves veggies the most!!!!

I must admit, you guys are making me feel like the worst mom! DS was always so picky...as soon as baby food was over and on to grown-up food, he just stopped eating! It was so bad when he was about 3 (he literally wouldn't eat anything but fruit and corndogs) that I went to the doctor about it...I was afraid he'd be malnourished. I was told that as long as he ate something he'd be fine - to give him kids cereal (vitamin enriched) as a snack and vitamins if I could get him to take them and not to worry.

He used to literally puke if you made him put anything he didn't want in his mouth! It was horrible! I once poked a carrot in his mouth and he barfed all over the table! Even now, at 11 years old, he gags if you make him take a bite of something and he doesn't like the flavor. But at least he stops at gagging. To this day he'll go to bed hungry rather than eat what he doesn't like. Makes me pull my hair out!

And it isn't just vegetables. He really only likes meat when it's processed nugget or hamberger - type stuff. He'll eat other - but doesn't like it. He covers almost every type of meat with ketchup. Given the choice, he'd live on pasta - especially fettucini alfredo or mac and cheese.

He will over-eat sometimes...but not healthy stuff. You can tell when a growth-spurt is coming by his appetite. He once ate 20 chicken nuggets in one meal and pouted when told he couldn't have more! He will virtually always eat an entire box of mac and cheese. We've had to institute a rule that he must eat a vegetable or a fruit before every serving of whatever it is he wants. (ie: You want more pasta? You have to eat more green beans first.)

On the up side, he's tall, slim and very healthy. He almost never gets sick, not colds, flu-bugs or even upset stomachs. So I guess it isn't hurting him any. Still, I'd give my right arm to have him eat a tomato.

Lilion, maybe your son is a super-taster. I do not know how valid of a theory it is, but it is worth googling. ?

That was very interesting. I know a good part of his thing is texture - he won't eat mashed potatoes on a bet - but likes potatoes otherwise. I suppose the taste-bud thing could explain why he likes breads and pastas and cheeses (not strong cheese like cheddar, only mild ones) so much better than stronger-tasting foods. He won't eat anything too spicy either and has a thing about temp - wants food to be barely warm, not too hot...but it doesn't explain why he likes sour skittles!

I had never heard of "super-tasters"...sounds like a fancy way of explaining "picky" to me!

Actually super-tasters usually have tons more taste buds per square inch on their tongues, especially in the "bitter" sensing areas. The theory is that super-tasters are particularly sensitive to alkaloids (the bitter taste) because many natural poisons are alkaloid.

Kids are much more sensitive to bitter tastes than adults, and much less sensitive to sour. The theory there again is to prevent against poisons, and to encourage eating of fruits high in malic and ascorbic acid, and the vitamins that go along with them.

As a kid, I absolutely hated broccoli, lima beans, brussel sprouts and beets and blue cheese. I'm not overly fond of brussel sprouts even now, but I love the rest. As you get older, your ability to taste bitter decreases dramatically.

That's why creamy dips and cheese sauces are often great ways to get kids to eat veggies like broccoli. You don't even need to add tons of it to obliterate the taste, just enough that the fat in the dip or sauce balances out the bitter.

My 8 year old will eat only raw veggies: brocolli, carrots, and sugar snap peas. That's it, but he does eat a lot of fruit.
My 7 year old, who was never very picky, has now decided he will only eat pickles and red grapes. (not mixed) Its tough to 'make' him eat something he doesn't want to because he's autistic.

I don't have any kids, but I was not a fan of some different veggies as a kid myself. My mom used to always get me to eat them by saying "well, at least eat HALF of each one". It worked. Strangely, now as an adult I LOVE veggies. I used to really dislike cauliflower, and now i really like it. Brocolli still tastes like grass to me though, but I can eat it cooked if it's cut up small.