Over the years, I've had parents say to me, "How do you get your kids to eat vegetables? Heaven knows I've tried, and my kids won't touch them." Most of the time, when I ask these parents if they eat veggies, their reaction is predictable: "Ew, no. Veggies are nasty!"
If that sounds familiar, I encourage you to reconsider your approach to veggies. Modeling--setting a good example--is a key parenting tool, and as it turns out, it's just as crucial in teaching children good eating habits as it is in other areas of parenting. A Reuters Health summary of a research study (which was originally published in the journal Obesity) noted that researchers found that the facial expressions of adults influenced children to eat more or less of foods. In other words, if you're all but holding your nose when you eat cooked cauliflower, it's very likely that your kids will turn up their noses.
If you don't have children, you may be thinking this doesn't apply to you. Maybe that's true, but consider this: Many adults try foods (very often vegetables) they remember hating as a child, and find that as an adult, the food is actually enjoyable. Perhaps future research will reveal that what children take away from childhood regarding food isn't as much their own reactions, as the reactions of the adults around them. So, if you've been avoiding green beans or beets for decades, perhaps that's because an adult in your childhood didn't like them. You may be surprised to discover that you feel very differently about those veggies now!
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