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Health for Children & Young People

RedBranch is a registered charity that promotes healthy lifestyle choices in Irish children and young people.

 

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How Can I Ensure My Kids Eat More Fruit and Veg?

Download our printable parent factsheet on fruit and vegetables (350 KB PDF).

Fruits and veggies are really important for children.  For example, heart disease has it’s roots in childhood. By helping your children to develop the habit of eating lots of fruit and vegetables, you will be protecting them in later life.  If your children snack on fruit rather than high-sugar snacks it will help them to concentrate as well as helping them to avoid serious illness.

 

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Let children decide whether to eat fruits and vegetables - and how much to eat.  It’s never a good idea to force children to eat

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Likes and dislikes change - If children don't like something the first time, wait a few weeks and patiently try again

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Make fruit/veggies easy...have a fruit bowl within easy reach and allow children to snack on fruit/veg whenever they like

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Be positive...never say “if you eat your broccoli, you’ll get a treat”...instead, talk about broccoli like it is a treat...children will pick up on this

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Kids love to eat fruit salads...chop up a variety of seasonal fruits and cover with some cloudy apple juice or whole orange juice

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Serve with some low-fat yoghurt, or a blob of ice cream for a healthy dessert

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Pack fruit salad into Tupperware for a healthy school snack

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Slice up fruit that is on special offer at the supermarket...simply slicing fruit onto a plate often tempts children

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Get children involved with shopping and food preparation – they will be more likely to sample the fruits of their labour

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Let children choose some fruits/veggies for themselves when you are shopping, and let them help wash veggies for dinne

bulletKids often prefer raw vegetables.  Try carrots, celery, peppers, courgette or broccoli - carrot or apple sticks make a great snack
bulletCover fresh fruit slices with fruit juice and refrigerate to keep them fresh
bulletCook vegetables until they are just tender - crunchy vegetables are much more appealing to children...they are also much more healthy...avoid overcooking vegetables!
bulletEat a variety of fruits and vegetables yourself and you'll be a healthy role model for the whole family. Try to add some fruit to your breakfast, and dip into the fruit bowl whenever you feel like snacking.

If all else fails, you can disguise vegetables easily - pureed vegetables can be added to mashed potato, chopped vegetables like carrot, onion, pepper and courgette can be added to spaghetti Bolognese or stews, and home made vegetable soup can be blended to a smooth consistency.

Other Health Topics

 

 

Members of 6th Class at St Mochulla's NS in Tulla distributing fruit as part of the RedBranch Fruit Break

 

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Last modified: June 09, 2010

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