There's a certain transition period that loads of kids go through between the post weaning/early toddler phase where they will eat just about anything, and the starting to talk, starting to say 'no' to certain things period. This is of course very natural; boundaries are pushed, authorities asserted and habits formed, but you may very well despair if your child suddenly starts to push their peas aside, cast out their carrots and turn their noses up at turnip. After all, you know it's good for them and if you're hard up, like many of us are at the moment, you don't really want them wasting food.
There is very little reasoning with a toddler and the temptation to wait until your child grows up a bit before you try and push the veg agenda is one that most of us will probably give into. However this is very much a catch 22 situation, wait 'til they're older and yes you can explain the importance of vegetables and a healthy diet, but by that stage they can be stubborn little buggers and all to quick to explain in their own genius logic why they don't do green.
But we will try nonetheless. And there are plenty of resources out there to help. A recent example being Mitch Spinach, the brainchild of children's authors Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand, in collaboration with family physician and best selling author Joel Fuhrman, M.D. The series is designed specifically with the idea of creating a positive message in regards to a healthy eating and an aspirational hero who practices what he preaches and the books relate to everyday situations such as school meals, albeit with a superhero twist. There are also some great illustrations by
Andrea Vitali.
The books are available through the
Mitch Spinach Website and
Amazon.com (no UK outlet yet as far as I can see), however even if you're not ordering books, I urge you to check out the website, which is a great source of information and very child friendly, with loads of games, activities, food facts and some amazing recipes, including Super Smoothies and a healthier take on chocolate cake.
http://www.mitchspinach.com/
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