Eat Your Veggies Day – How to celebrate every day!

National Eat Your Veggies Day

National Eat Your Veggies Day is June 17! June is National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month, and what better way to celebrate than with something as delicious as a day dedicated to veggies!

Vegetables come in so many shapes, colors, and sizes, each packed with their own array of vitamins and antioxidants. Veggies like carrots are good for your eyes, broccoli is good for your heart, and spinach is good for your brain! There are many more veggies with even more benefits, but if we listed them all, we’d be here all day!

Veggies and Your Child’s Diet

All of the benefits of veggies are especially good for your child development — your little one’s growing mind and body. Depending on your child’s age, their veggie intake may vary. For toddler health, that’s children ages 1-2, they should have around 2-3 servings of veggies a day. This goes up to about 3-4 ½ between ages 4 and 8. 

While all of this is easy enough to recommend, actually getting your child to eat their veggies is a bit tricky. The reason kids are so averse to vegetables actually is rooted in biology! While we have grocery stores now stocked with foods that are safe to eat, our ancestors didn’t have the same luxury. Because of this, we are biologically programmed to be averse to bitter foods when we are younger, which, unfortunately, make veggies hard to incorporate into your little one’s diet for the benefit of their child development and toddler health. 

How to Make Veggies Fun and Yum!

While it might seem impossible, it is actually very easy to get your child accustomed to veggies, leading them to better toddler health and eventually enjoying healthier foods! Here are some tips to help start the process.

1 – Cook Together

Inviting your little one to join you in the kitchen while you prepare vegetables is a great way to not only spend quality time with them, but also get them used to seeing and understanding the vegetables you are incorporating into meals. 

2 – Add Veggies to Favorite Meals

Try pairing veggies with foods your child already eats. For example, adding broccoli or peas to mac and cheese, or adding some carrot sticks on the side of their chicken nuggets. This can make them not only taste better, but start exposing your little one to veggies more often. 

3 – Offer Veggies as Snacks

By offering vegetables as snacks, children can start to view them as a fun treat, which will benefit them throughout their child development!

4 – Have Patience 

If your child isn’t a fan of vegetables, it may take a bit of time to get your little one used to eating them. Even if they don’t eat all their veggies right away, having them try little bites and praising them for doing so can help show that they are being encouraged to try new things, even if they ultimately don’t like them. This will make your little one more open to trying new foods, which is always good for toddler health, and your child will begin to recognize that trying new things isn’t a punishment, but rather, an adventure! 

5 – Set an Example

By eating vegetables with your child, you can set an example and show that vegetables aren’t something to be weary of. 

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