I just did a tomato tasting for two of my kids’ classes at school. Although many of their classmates were trying and enjoying the different types of tomatoes — a range of fresh ones along with sauce salsa and roasted tomatoes — my picky-eating progeny refused to partake. I guess I don’t have to worry about them succumbing to peer pressure. But if “mom pressure” doesn’t work either how can I establish healthy eating habits in my kids while they’re young? When the direct approach doesn’t work is it okay to change tactics and hide vegetables in foods kids will actually eat?
To Hide or Not to Hide?
We all know the power of vegetables the crucial roles they play in healthy body functioning reducing inflammation and fighting disease. That’s why cookbooks filled with recipes that incorporate healthier foods surreptitiously — like pasta sauce made with sweet potatoes and coconut milk (no tomatoes) and brownies with hidden spinach and blueberries — seem like a gift from heaven for parents of picky eaters. The nutrients get into the kids without them noticing and everybody’s happy. Right?
Does It Work?
Opponents of this method say kids are too smart; they’re sure to notice if we sneak salad ingredients into their dessert. But one research study says otherwise.
It was conducted at Penn State under the auspices of Dr. Barbara Rolls. She’s a well-known nutrition researcher and author of several books on her “Volumetrics” diet. Forty kids at a day care center were fed a baked ziti-like dish made with pureed spinach and cauliflower as well as a snack cake with pureed zucchini. Not only didn’t they notice the vegetables some of the kids thought the modified versions tasted better than the originals. They ate about the same amount of them as they normally did too — not more or less.
