Ever since Meghan (3 3/4 years old) was a toddler, I’ve used the feeding philosophy outlined in Ellyn Satter’s book, How to Get Your Kid to Eat…But Not Too Much. The gist is that I can control what I feed my child, I can control when she eats, but how much she eats is up to her. Satter advocates taking a no-pressure approach to meal time. She encourages mothers to serve their children the same meal the entire family is eating (no short order cooking), while including at least one food that is a familiar favorite and don’t force them to eat anything. No bargaining, no pleading. If you are always only serving food at meal times and all (or most) of the food is healthy, Satter says that eventually the child will eat a wide variety of foods.
I love this philosophy. The problem, however, is that is hasn’t worked that well for us. Or maybe it has and Meghan would be a much worse eater if we’d taken a different approach. She does eat a lot of healthy foods on a regular basis, including fruit/vegetable smoothies, almonds, oatmeal, pistachios, avocado, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and chickpeas.
Notice what’s missing from that list? Vegetables. Meghan doesn’t eat a lot of vegetables on a regular basis, despite me continuing to serve them to her. Despite her early exposure. Despite me trying to do everything “right” from the beginning.
Everything in Satter’s philosophy goes against offering any sort of reward for eating foods, so I tried to steer clear of that approach. Then I came across this article about a study that tested the effects of rewarding kids for eating vegetables. Based on everything else I’ve read, I fully expected the results to be negative. But they weren’t.
The children in the study who were offered a reward for eating their vegetables ended up eating more than the children who were not and reported liking them more. The effects seemed to last, too. The children who were offered the rewards for a period of time still ate more vegetables after the rewards were taken away than those who were never offered rewards. This makes sense as research shows that repeated exposure to a food can lead to liking a food. You just have to get the kid to eat it to begin with.
When I read this article, I felt like a heavy weight was lifted from my shoulders. There was something more I could do to encourage Meghan to eat more vegetables. I didn’t have to just keep putting them on her plate and waiting for the day she’d eat them on her own; that could be years! (No one pressured or rewarded me for eating vegetables as a child and guess what? I didn’t eat them on a regular basis until well into my adult years) I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about Elynn Satter’s approach just not working for us.
With a renewed sense of hope, I set up a system of rewards for eating vegetables. I kept it simple enough for a 3-year-old to understand; if Meghan was older I’d likely have done it differently.
I showed Meghan the simple chart I made and explained the rewards. We (her, me, and Tim) would each get a sticker if we ate up all of our vegetables at dinner. I decided to just start with one meal. Once all of us have seven stickers, we get to go get a special treat at the ice cream parlor.
I know what you’re thinking. Rewarding vegetables with ice cream?! Doesn’t that put ice cream on a pedestal? I’m pretty sure every “expert” out there would say this was a bad idea. I would have thought the same thing at one time. A woman has the right to change her mind.
I had to use something motivating, and nothing will motivate Meghan like sweets. She loves her sweets. Unfortunately , there is no built-in motivation for eating vegetables. Let’s be honest: we aren’t born thinking vegetables taste terrific. When you are three, the idea of nutrients for growth and development doesn’t have meaning. I wanted something that would actually get her to eat them because I know if she repeatedly eats them, she may grow to like them.
Ice cream tastes good; that’s what matters to a 3 year old. As much as I have tried to keep all food on a level playing ground and keep it neutral, Meghan has naturally put sweets at the top of her favorite foods list. There’s just no way to keep vegetables and desserts equal. I think this puts ice cream in the category it belongs: a special treat to be enjoyed once in a while. There’s nothing wrong with eating ice cream. You just shouldn’t eat it every night.
Last night was night one of what I’ve dubbed Operation Eat More Vegetables. I didn’t go easy on myself by starting with broccoli. This is probably both Meghan and Tim’s least favorite vegetable. (Yes, I think this little system is going to make Tim eat more vegetables, too!)
Meghan was super excited to get a sticker. She was not super excited about eating broccoli. But for the sticker, she was willing to endure her least favorite food.
She is such a drama queen. She did this with every bite. She did not like it. But she ate it all, and was excited about her accomplishment. This is more vegetables than she’s eaten at one sitting without them being hidden in a smoothie or muffin in a long time.
Daddy, Mommy, and Meghan all got stickers last night.
If Meghan eats all of her servings of vegetables every night, I will consider this a huge, huge success, even if that means we have to go to the ice cream parlor once a week.
Each week I will report back to you how Operation Eat More Vegetables went and will bring you one kid-friendly vegetable recipe from the week. This week’s recipe is very simple, but tasty. Don’t let Meghan’s face fool you. She’s got it in her mind that she doesn’t like vegetables, so I’m sure she would have made that face even if the broccoli was coated in sugar.
This recipe has a bright, orange flavor that is just enough. If you give it a try, let me know if your kids enjoy it!
Print
Operation Eat More Vegetables: Sunny Orange Broccoli
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
A fresh and tasty side dish
Ingredients
- 3 cup broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
- salt and pepper
- orange slices with the peel removed, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Gently steam the broccoli until it is bright green and tender, not mushy, about 5 minutes. Toss with the orange juice and zest and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place over three orange slices, if using, and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from Parents.com
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 29
- Sugar: 1.5g
- Sodium: 9.5mg
- Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 2g
- Protein: 0.8g
What are your thoughts on rewarding kids for eating vegetables? I know some of you will fervently disagree with this approach, and that’s okay. I’d love to hear from everyone!
Aside from this amazing recipe. I also appreciate the scoreboard you have.
Oh my, thank you so much for this! Your story sounds so familiar. I’ve felt so guilty and frustrated about my almost 4 yr old daughter’s utter disdain for vegetables (in spite of planting, harvesting, washing and preparing veggies from our own garden herself, and being fed them as a baby/toddler!) and my own utter failure at implementing Ellen Satter’s recommendations. It’s like a breath of fresh air to think that maybe it’s ok to try a different approach! Good luck with your project–we’ll have to give it a try here. Nothing motivates like icecream!
This approach has been very successful for us! We used the reward system for a few months and then were able to phase it out. Meghan’s much, much better now about eating her vegetables. Although she is still pretty limited in the number of different vegetables she likes, there are a good number that I can put on her plate and know she’ll eat. Just getting her to try them was such a big help. I need the incentive to make that happen! Good luck to you–I hope you find some success, too!
Cute idea! I like the idea of actually serving up the orange w/ the broccoli. Might try this with mine. And by the way, mine are the same drama queens – acting like they’re gagging with every bite 😉
I guess I’m a lucky mom, my daughter loves many veggies: broccoli, green beans, tomatoes and corn are her favorites. We often just have veggies from the grill, asperagas, green beans, colorful peppers, sweet potatoes, zuchinni, corn on the cob, and yellow squash are frequent dinners for us. Emily, if she wants to eat has to choose from the options available and Nathan and I tell her how much we love them. I never put much flavor on them normally only salt and oil for grilling. We are pretty plain eaters, however Emily has recently started wanting ranch dressing on everything – aauuuggghhhhh!
That’s great! I’m jealous. 🙂 How old are your kids? Meghan would eat a wide variety of vegetables fairly easily up until age 2 1/2. It’s gotten increasingly difficult since then.
Oops–I read your comment like Nathan was your child, as well, but after rereading I’m guessing he is your husband?
Yep, you are right! One kiddo, Emily she’s 3.25 years old.
Where did you get the “Eat More Vegetables” stickers? That is a cool idea! I would like to do that with our daughter.
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
The stickers were just some I had left over from my teaching days. 🙂
Thanks for this post! I struggle with getting my 3 1/2 year old to eat vegetables, but I haven’t wanted to make it a reward system based on everything I’ve read prior to this. Quite honestly, each bite {and they are few and far between} he puts in his mouth is forced. In the past two months we’ve made a little progress. He will eat sweet potatoes when I make them as either baked fries or chips, and he likes what we call “spinach cakes” ~ at least he did one night. When he can’t see or taste the vegetable he is okay with it. For example, he loves zucchini muffins and he asks for seconds when we have spinach in our smoothies. The trouble is we don’t eat these things everyday.
My almost 7 year old and barely 5 year old eat what is on their plate without much complaint so I have just been hoping and waiting for the day when my third changes his tune towards dinner. I don’t want mealtime to be a battleground. Instead I want it to be a time where we come together as a family and share our day over a healthy meal. I am comforted by the fact that he isn’t filling up on junk throughout the day, but I want him to learn to eat his vegetables. We might start our own operation eat more veggies in our house. It couldn’t hurt any of us!
I feel the same way about wanting meal time to be a peaceful time and not a battleground. That’s why I’ve never been one to force her to eat anything. I’m hoping this method will gently encourage her to eat more vegetables on her own accord. 🙂 Even if it’s with ice cream on her mind, at least she’ll be getting more of the good stuff in her, right?
My daughter (6) naturally likes most veggies. So I thought I had it all figured out. Then my boy (4) came along and, well, let’s just say he isn’t quite the veggie eater that his sister is…. Our rule is that they must eat one good bite of everything on their plate, but, after that bite, they can eat whatever they want on their plate and leave the parts they don’t want. I may start doing a bit of a reward system too – I like that idea. I really hope that the exposure to healthy foods and seeing their parents eat those foods will somehow sink in and cause them to eat that way in the future. I’ll keep hoping….
You are a fantastic mama and I think that you are doing what is absolutely right for your two. No one knows your kids better than you.
ps – I’d eat any of the veggies you prepared!
What a cute recipe! Veggies are often hard for people, kids and adults alike, to learn to love. Yet they are so important when you think about all the fiber and nutrients they provide. I think its great that you are making them a priority. Good luck!
Verrry interesting study… but I can’t say I’m all that surprised. If given the option to eat or not eat vegetables, I don’t know many little kids that will opt for veggies willingly. A little incentive is a great way to expand their diet and expose them to more tastes and textures. I wish you continued success and many trips out for ice cream!
Thanks, Candy. I’ll keep you guys updated on how it goes. 🙂
Well, in our household, I do my best to eat something similar to my 2.5 year old daughter, but my husband will often eat cereal or something else completely different that Charlotte wants to share. So, we often use his food (or some other desirable but not so healthy food) as an incentive for her to eat the vegetables on her plate. “Eat a piece of broccoli and you can have a bite of Daddy’s cereal.” She’s, overall, a good veggie eater, but we nudge her from time to time and have always shared our food with each other. Also, for a long time I tried giving her cucumber with no success, but once she got to slice and share cucumbers at her preschool, she loved them. So, involving kids in a meaningful activity with food (like gardening) can be a real incentive!
Oh I love that her preschool has her slicing veggies. I wish Meghan’s preschool did that!
Honestly, I don’t see a problem with the rewards system. Everyone told me it was a mistake to reward my kids when potty training, but it worked for me with both of them. I think as long as you phase it out when it’s not needed any more it wont cause any harm. Her taste buds just need to change a little to accept veggies on a regular basis – heck, even adults that don’t eat veggies regularly have the same problem. I’ve even had to force myself to eat some veggies, and now I like them.
It’s totally true. Certain foods are an acquired taste and I hope this will help her acquire a taste for vegetables!
It’s surprising to me that so many parents seem to have such a hard time getting their kids to eat what they give them! When I was young we ate what was on our plate, no pleading or threatening or bargaining from my parents. We just didn’t have a choice. I don’t recall ever getting yelled at or anything,we just ate what we were given. I don’t have kids yet,but that is what I *plan* to do with them. As I see every day,what people plan to do when they have kids and what actually happens are usually two very different things though.lol.
That’s really interesting that it was never a struggle at your house. You’ll have to make sure to ask your mom and/or dad about what approach they took with you as toddlers and preschoolers to get to the point where you just ate what you were given without any problems. (I’d love to hear what they did, too!) I wonder if there was a struggle before you can remember, but by the time your memory kicks in, the habits were already established so there weren’t any difficulties.
Yay for Meghan!!! As time goes on, she will probably learn to like veggies better. I remember my little brother hating certain foods, and veggies, too. He would literally sit at the table and cry for an hour because he did not want to eat it. He is better now, though!
Yes, I know it will get better with age. I just didn’t want to wait that long to get her eating the good stuff! 🙂
Great idea! I think every Mom has this struggle. Addie literally gags and I mean gags when she eats certain vegetables. I can’t force it but I have noticed she is getting better. I think the older she gets the more willing she is to eat a variety of foods. AJ who is almost 2 has now become my picky eater. What?! He used to eat everything, but not anymore. So, here we go all over again. 🙂
Isn’t it weird how one day they’ll eat most everything and then it’s like a switch turns on and they are suddenly picky? That’s how it seemed to go with Meghan. I do see her trying more things as time goes on, but she also has preconceived notions about certain foods and I’ll never get her to get past those unless she eats them!
Oh …. so very true.
Lots and lots of times we played the “veggie merrygoround.” Just to have the child “taste” something different was my #1 goal. No force feedings. A simple little tasting game works very well when a child is encouraged positively.
I remember one time the kids had several friends over. On the menu: turkey hot dogs, no salt potato chips, and I fixed a crispy nice salad w/several choices of dressing. This was all served ….. with ….. beets! Ha. Yeah. Sweet beets. My only request was for them to eat 1 slice …. just one. They all did it together with scrunched-up faces! Everyone said they were okay …. not fantastic …. not terrible ….. just okay. That was good enough. Very worth it for a delicious dessert for all.
I like the veggie merry-go-round idea. Very cute! 🙂 Even getting Meghan to taste vegetables (and other foods she doesn’t like, such as spaghetti and rice) is a struggle. I never force, which is where the problem was coming in. No forcing=no tasting. This little reward system is helping encourage her to branch out and eat more vegetables without forcing her to do so. She’s choosing to eat them to get the sticker, even though she’s not always happy about the taste of the vegetables.
It is such a tricky balance that being a mom stuff! ….I am a tad worried for my future little blessings- I don’t know what I’ll do if my child doesn’t share my passion for veggies. My nephew is just starting the phase of ‘NO VEGGIES’ and even as an aunt, it is tough on me.
I like your open minded approach to everything! Your little drama queen is darling while eating her broccoli!
I think it’s rare a child who just naturally loves vegetables. They are an acquired taste and we have to help them acquire a taste for them. In order to do that, they have to eat them, right?! So this is just my way of trying to get her to eat them and hopefully learn to like them. Let me be your guinea pig and if it works with Meghan you can try it if you end up with a non-veggie lover later on! 🙂
I think you are doing a great thing. One thing I’ve learned from parenting is that I haven’t learned a thing…..haha! In the respect that I no longer judge anybody for how they are parenting or rarely offer advice (only when asked :). Cuz if it works for your family, then I say go for it. I was really interested in the study you mentioned….fascinating! I think I may try to implement some form of this at my house. Thx for the encouragement 🙂
So true—parenting is so tough and I think the majority of parents are trying their best to do what’s right for their kids with the knowledge and resources they have. And everyone’s way of getting to what’s best for their kids is going to be different, and that’s okay.
We had the same experience with a no pressure approach. They just weren’t getting eaten. Now we do one or two pieces of the veggie at mealtimes and he has to eat that before getting anything else. It has worked great for us! He know rarely puts up a fight about eating his portion of vegetables and just does it because it’s the expectation. He has yet to request more of a vegetable but I feel so much better knowing that he’s at least getting a small portion of the nutrients in him and I’m hopeful that over time he will develop a taste for them. At first I felt guilty because it was against what all the “experts” were saying at the time to just let the kids decide what to eat. But now I think that’s just baloney. Since when do kids know what’s best for them? That’s why they have parents! Just my opinion!
It sounds so good on paper, but I have yet to hear of anyone who has had the no pressure approach work well. I’d love to talk to someone who uses it and has a 3 year old who chooses to eat tons of vegetables. I’m pretty sure that any cases like that are the exception and not the norm.
Oh, by the way, LOVE her expression in the first photo and the excitment in the next photo!
Yeah …. for sure Meghan looks totally miserable. Like she’s gonna pass out.
In reading the recipe Maryea …. was this for everyone? Most likely I’m sure. A child only needs 1 or 2 small pieces of any veggie.
OEMV is a great concept. Hope it works for lots more moms, dads and of course the kiddos!
Yes, the recipe was for everyone. Meghan is almost four, so the recommended serving size of vegetables for her age is 3-4 tablespoons, or almost 1/4 cup.
I love “Operation Eat More Veggies!” Kids love to be rewarded (at least mine do) and I think a treat to the ice cream parlor is awesome as well as the stickers to show progress each day! Way to go Mama!