Eat Broccoli because “it makes you tough”

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Shikha is a health expert, providing valuable interpretations towards improving your overall health and well-being.

Contribution from Shikha Verma

By Shikha Verma

Ours is a world of hamburgers, hotdogs, and pizzas. That’s all the kids want to see on their dinner plates-not broccoli- and parents invariably tend to give in. That’s mistake number 2. Mistake number 1 being, introducing your child to the world of junk food at an impressionable age, when you could have led them to learn and enjoy good nutrition behaviour with fruits and vegetables, including broccoli.

A friend of mine, struggling with her seven year olds eating habits, was at her wits end. Her son wanted to know why he has to eat broccoli, and she did not know how to convince the child. And, that is where so many of us make the same mistake. You needn’t try to convince your child with logic and benefits; that is too much to ask of your little ones. You may tell your child a hundred times that broccoli is rich in vitamins and minerals and good for health, and it still won’t make them want to eat it.

A better answer to the Childs question would have been: “Because it makes you tough.” How? “Because you may not like something, but doing it and going against your liking, makes you tough. And to be tough, you need to eat broccoli now and then- even though you don’t seem to like it right now. All strong people do that”. You’ll just have to be creative and trigger your Childs genuine interest in broccoli. The challenge is to actually get kids to want to eat broccoli, and more important, to enjoy broccoli.

Make broccoli enjoyable and interesting for your kids:

Take your kids broccoli shopping, and let them pick out a bunch they like best.

Involve your child in preparing the broccoli picked out by him in the way he says he would like to eat it.

Give your child the option to choose between raw or cooked broccoli. He may enjoy the crunch of the raw, or the soft mushiness of the cooked vegetable.

Ask your child to discuss broccoli with his teacher at school and tell you what he learned.

Make raw broccoli the “green” in your rainbow salad.

Add a twist to the way broccoli tastes by pouring lemon juice or sprinkle low fat parmesan cheese over steamed broccoli.

Serve broccoli with a fat-free vegetable dip.

Add broccoli to dishes that your child is already fond of such as soups, pastas, omelettes and casserole dishes.

Have raw broccoli ready as a quick and easy snack in the refrigerator in bite-size pieces.

Let your child help you plant broccoli in your kitchen garden. He would definitely want to proudly eat what he grew himself.

Other than the above, you may have your own ideas about how to make your child take an interest in broccoli on the dinner table. Share your ideas with your friends to help them with their “my child won’t touch broccoli” dilemmas. Some more ideas:

While it’s better to have your child eat broccoli willingly, it’s okay to be a little sneaky for his health. Add it to your sauces, mashed vegetables, chilli, meat loaf, and any other recipe that you may know of. Do remember to tell your child after a meal what he has just devoured.

Introduce broccoli to your child as soon as you start introducing other veggies and solids. Healthy habits formed early in life, usually stay for life.

Practice what you preach. Let your child see you eating and enjoying broccoli, and he too would want to eat what mommy and daddy seem to relish so much.

Don’t ever force your child to eat Broccoli or any other food he seems to dislike. What you can do is have him eat a portion of the healthy greens and also have a serving of his favourite food ready to go along with broccoli. Don’t give him a choice between foods. Instead, offer him a choice between what would he like first.

Food and Health go hand in hand, and eating healthy can make a world of a difference to your child’s performance in school and play. But you, being a parent, are already aware of that.

The answer I suggested to my friend led her son to eat his entire broccoli the next time round. It’s just one of the many ways you can teach your kids to manage difficult or unpleasant aspects of life so that they won’t be in the learning process when real challenges hit. Your child will not only learn to eat nutritious food, but will build resistance to the small unpleasantries of life, to go on to better things, and appreciate them all the more!

* Note: Image(s) by the courtsey of http://www.wikipedia.org.