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Does Hiding Vegetables Help?
Our experts weigh in on whether the stealth approach is the best way to deal with picky eaters
by: Sydney Loney
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t’s frustrating when your baby turns her nose up at sweet potato puree, or your toddler pushes his peas and carrots off the plate. But is it okay to hide vegetables, just to get your child to eat them?Hiding vegetables has a lot to do with timing. “It’s best not to do it during a child’s first year,” says Ali Chernoff, a registered dietitian in Vancouver and author of Good Food Toddler. “Just because that’s when they need to get used to the taste.” As for older kids, she says it’s also important not to give up on the real deal too soon. “It may take up to 15 times before they actually eat it,” she says. “But if they still refuse, then at least you know you tried your best.”
On the other hand, kids do need four to five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, Chernoff adds. Which is why she isn’t against hiding them if you have to. A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found concealing puréed vegetables in the meals of kids aged three to five led to significantly greater veggie consumption – kids ate up to 73 percent more vegetables per meal when extra helpings were served in secret.
What vegetables do kids like most?
If you’re trying to get more produce into a picky eater by hiding vegetables in other foods, it’s still important to continue serving them the old fashioned way, Chernoff says. The more often they’re on the plate, the more familiar they’ll become – and the more likely kids will be to eat them.
The best vegetables to prepare whole are peas, broccoli, carrots or sweet potatoes because they’re well tolerated by most kids, she says. “The good news is that at this age, it’s still easy to turn children’s eating habits around because their taste buds are still developing and, as they get used to the taste and texture of different vegetables, they’ll carry the healthy habit of eating them into adulthood.”
