Having trouble getting your kids to eat their vegetables, or other healthy foods? It may be an easier challenge than you think. Fresno County (CA) nutrition expert Michelle Roman is getting the kids in her schools on board with healthy eating without tricks or coercion. How does she do it? She just gives it to them straight.
Roman brought different types of cabbage to one class and explained that purple vegetables and fruits are rich in antioxidants, and then she told them what that meant in real terms: "It promotes cell growth. So for our beautiful skin we want to have that cell growth." Genius! Hit these kids, overwhelmed with media images of beauty, right where they live: you want to look good, you have to eat good...er, well. Roman's been visiting classrooms for two years and says even the pickiest eaters are willing to try a bite of the foods she brings for them to learn about and taste. And students, and their parents, are benefiting from her work.
I recently put this concept into action with my four-year-old, and while it hasn't been a magic bullet, she's definitely catching on. The last time she had a cold, she moaned "I guess I really do need to eat more tomatoes for Vitamin C, huh?". Yup.
