Chances are, your grandmother can’t understand today’s emphasis on making foods “fun.” She grew up in a time when food filled empty bellies. Kids simply ate or went to bed hungry.
In today’s world — even though many families still are struggling to provide adequate calories on the table — there’s an increasing emphasis on making foods entertaining. Is that a good thing?
“Family meals and food serve many purposes as we raise our children. It’s a social event, it can be fun, and it serves to fuel growing children,” says Dr. Kathleen Mansour, a pediatrician with Millennium Pediatrics in Naperville, Ill., and a mother of three daughters. “Those who tout making food fun are trying to encourage children to eat healthy foods by making them engaging and enticing.”
Brian Wansink, professor of marketing in Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, has conducted studies showing that kids will eat more vegetables if they’re given cool names. For example, giving carrots and broccoli names such as “X-Ray Vision Carrots” or “Broccoli Bits” can increase consumption. He also found colorful foods, with the entrees placed in the front of the plate and with figurative designs, were preferred.
While it’s never too late to expand your child’s food horizon, children tend to crave starchy foods like bread, crackers, pasta, and corn if they haven’t been exposed to enough fruits and vegetables.
In Mansour’s practice, the parents who don’t encourage fruits and vegetables early have children “less likely to eat them as they get older.”
It’s all about presentation:
• Fill a six-cup muffin tin with one or two dips and the rest with a rainbow of vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Put finger foods on toothpicks. I did this when my children were little and they loved it! For example, thread cheese and meat chunks, firm tofu, cut-up fruit, or grapes onto colorful toothpicks the child can pick up.
• Don’t be afraid to season vegetables with a little grated cheese or butter, plus herbs and spices. Nutrients need not be flavor-free.
• Let a picky eater pick the dinner vegetable and then everyone should eat it. This way, the child feels more in control.
Dr. Mansour says her girls get excited when she makes meals fun, such as putting their initials in pancake batter, making ants on a log, or cutting sandwiches with cookie cutters.
“It’s not required to get them to eat, but it puts smiles on their faces when it does.”
Christine M. Palumbo, registered dietician, is a Naperville, Ill.-based nutritionist who is on the faculty of Benedictine University. Follow her on Twitter @PalumboRD, Facebook at Christine Palumbo Nutrition or Chris@ChristinePalumbo.com.
Yakimaniac Veggie Martians
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Makes eight servings
INGREDIENTS:
1 bag (12 oz.) Birds Eye® Steamfresh® Broccoli Florets or Cuts, cooked according to package directions, divided
1 bag (12 oz.) Birds Eye® Steamfresh® Mixed Vegetables, cooked according to package directions, divided
1 package (16.3 oz.) of 8 refrigerated white or whole wheat biscuits
1-1/2 cups shredded, reduced-fat Swiss cheese
1/2 cup plain, Greek-style yogurt
3 oz. low-fat cream cheese, softened
Green glitter icing gel
Thin pretzel sticks
INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 375°F. In a medium bowl, combine one cup broccoli florets and two cups mixed vegetables with Swiss cheese, yogurt, and cream cheese, blending well.
Separate biscuits in half into 16 pieces; roll or press each half into four-inch rounds. On ungreased baking sheet, arrange eight rounds. Evenly top each with rounded 1/4 cup vegetable mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top with remaining biscuit rounds. Press edges to seal. Brush each with glitter gel.
Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Decorate each “Martian” with reserved vegetables and serve with remaining vegetables.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: 310 calories, 39 g carbohydrates, 16 g protein, 10 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 7 g fiber, 330 mg sodium, 20% DV iron, 40% DV calcium, 6% DV vitamin C, 20% DV vitamin A.
Used with permission from birdseye.com.
