"Help, my kid won't eat veggies"

I get this question asked often from frustrated parents. In my experience working with kids when it comes to food -- the first shift is away from directives and over to questions.

Below are a few ground rules:

Rule #1: Remain neutral. Ask open ended questions with curiosity and be okay with their response. Avoiding "You're eating THAT for a snack?" and even praising"Yay! You ate your veggies."

Examples: -Let's take a look at different types of vegetables. Which ones do you think you'd be willing to try? -We’ve been into a rut lately with dinner, eating the same 3-4 meals over and over. Would you be willing to flip through a cookbook with me, and let me know which meals you want to try?

-Mac and cheese again? You sure do love that. I’m wondering: Could we mix something else into it? What do you think would taste great when added to mac and cheese? -Rather than taking x, y, and away, think about what you can ADD versus subtract. This also helps picky eaters feel safe because their favorite food is still available. Rule #2 Lead by example. Kids naturally trend towards doing what they see you doing. Modeling the behavior you want your kids to emulate includes: having meals at the table vs in front of the tv, taking time preparing foods, eating slow, and not qualifying food as “good or bad.”

Below are additional tips on how to make nutrition FUN:

-Make dinner a roll of the dice: Everyone works together to brainstorm six dinner ideas. Assign each dinner a number from one to six. Then, designate one night a week as “game night.” For that night, you pick dinner by rolling dice.

-Give fruits and veggies their own spirit days. On “red” day, you eat red produce. On “yellow day” yellow produce, and so on.

-Ask kids for help planning, shopping, and preparing dinner. Tasks from setting the table to flipping the pancakes helps to involve kids, teach them important kitchen skills, and, ultimately, makes them more likely to eat what you’ve prepared.

-Stage an experiment. While shopping with you, ask kids to find produce the family has never tried before. Agree to sample it as an experiment. You might even have kids “review” the food with a starring system.

Lastly, what your child eats does not define your success at a parent. Food judging moms please stop putting others down on their dignity and personal quest in "health" for their families