Getting Started
Not sure where to start with a veg-resistant kid?
Whether your child avoids most veg, fruit & beans or eats none at all, you’re not alone, and small steps really do help!
Not sure where to start with a veg-resistant kid?
Whether your child avoids most veg, fruit & beans or eats none at all, you’re not alone, and small steps really do help!
Do your kids refuse to eat vegetables? You’re not alone!
Nearly 30% of children eat little to no veg, and many become even more resistant during primary school. In our programmes, 77% of parents tell us their kids started eating more veg, fruit, or beans with simple, low-pressure changes.
If you’re looking for expert help with getting your kids started on veg, we’ve got you covered…
Struggling to get your kids to eat veg, fruit & beans?
Our expert panel share small, realistic steps that fit into busy family life: Dr Glenys Jones, Jenny Rosborough RNutr., eco-chef Tom Hunt, Zoe Griffiths RNutr., broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Veg Power Editor Claire Wright, TastEd’s Kim Smith, and child psychology expert Dr Clare Holley.
Start with tiny swaps!
Glenys recommends sticking with familiar foods and adding just one small change, like swapping potato wedges for sweet potato which count towards your 5-a-day, or adding a handful of veg, beans or lentils to a favourite meal.
Let kids see you enjoying veg, fruit and beans.
You don’t need to sit and eat a full meal together – even snacking on a carrot stick or apple slice while they’re nearby makes a difference. This role modelling is one of the most powerful ways of getting your kids eating veg themselves as it normalises it for them. We got child psychologist Dr Clare Holley on board to explain why and how this is crucial…
Do play with your food!
As Jenny, Kim and Zoe tell us, exposure (including seeing, touching and playing!) helps to normalise veggies and remove pressure for kids. So before you ask them to eat them, why not step back and just let them engage in creative and fun ways, slowly growing accustomed to veg before attempting to taste them.
Head to our Engaging Kids section to find art, science, cooking and games inspiration to suit your child.
Try cooking with kids, a little at a time!
Jenny, Claire and Zoe suggest cooking with your kids as an essential way of engaging them with veg and helping familiarise them. It doesn’t need to be messy or time-consuming. Give them one tiny task: washing berries, draining beans, snapping green beans, stirring peas into rice…
Find tips and Kitchen Ninja Skills to inspire you and your kids in our Kids in the Kitchen page.
Move away from mealtimes
No one enjoys a mealtime battle. By all means, keep offering vegetables at meals, but a gentler pace for a slow and pressure-free interaction outside of meals is more likely to go down well. Talk about veg often: when you’re shopping, prepping, putting food away, noting the texture and colour and sounds.
Snack on veg as you cook or after school so they see you eating it. Let kids explore veg, fruit and beans with all their senses: looking, touching, smelling, snapping, peeling…
Professor Giles Yeo
Simply Veg user Sarah asked us “How do I get my child started on veg?”, we asked Professor Giles Yeo of Cambridge University, a specialist in food and nutrition, and one of our expert panel.
Do have a question our experts could help with?
Do you have a question you’d like one of our experts to help you with?
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