How true this is. I have found consistently that most toddlers' bodies cannot even digest vegetables unless completely pureed or extremely soft (ie sweet potatoes or regular potatoes). And mostly they use the fat and protein to meet their needs! One way most toddlers or little kids will eat more veggies is actually in soup-- they're loaded with the soup flavor and almost themselves flavorless and very soft, so they're not an issue. I've also found that as they get older, they *will* mostly naturally try many different veggies and decide which they prefer. Particularly with lots of fat, which is needed to properly assimilate the micronutrients in the veg anyway. (My kids for example love homemade ranch dressing with any crunchy veggies. Some like salad dipped in lots of oil/vinegar or lemon.) But I don't stress on a day when I make a big main dinner and run out of time to make another veggie side. As my husband points out, "Don't worry! There're tomatoes in that pasta sauce!" ;)
I agree with everything you said here. I have seven children and only one out of the seven would just eat anything that was put in front of them. That being said, don't give up *offering* the offending foods. It usually is textural. My second oldest would not eat tomatoes or zucchini/squash because of the texture. Those foods are still "not his favorite" (thank you, Auntie Leila, for that sage advice many moons ago about not letting them say they "hate" things!) but he will eat cooked squash, and even zucchini now, as long as it is cut in smallish pieces. He still cannot handle a raw sliced tomato but will eat a large quantity of tomato sauce, fresh salsa, etc. My oldest couldn't handle the texture of lettuce, and I didn't fight it because of all of the gagging, but one day we were at a friend's house and she saw all of her friends enjoying a lovely green salad and decided to eat it too (I think she was about 5 or 6 at that time) and never had another issue since. Cut things in smaller pieces, not to hide them, just to make them more manageable for those who have texture issues. Also offering something that the child likes with the meal helps a lot. My 3-year-old has gulped down many a bite of scrambled eggs with *gasp* peppers/onions/zucchini/chopped kale (all things that make her gag because of the texture) with a quick bite of toast to help her be able to chew it and not feel the leafiness/sliminess in her mouth so strongly. Even if they just can't handle it (and sometimes she still can't) they at least get something in their belly. We do allow them to eat around things to some extent but, when they get older, they have to at least take a bite or a small 'no thank you helping'. Using iceberg lettuce with a few softer/stronger tasting greens mixed into a salad helps them accept a wider variety of greens. Chopped spinach or kale sauteed in olive oil with onion/garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice is very nice in a pocket of pita bread and my kids all ate this as long as the spinach was not heaped inside the pita too thickly. Offer tomatoes as a salsa instead of just raw/sliced for those who just can't deal with the slimy seedy innards. You can offer zucchini raw or just lightly sauteed and cut in small, diced pieces to get around the slimy seediness that develops if you offer slices of cooked zucchini, Winter squash can be diced and pan fried or roasted as well if the mushiness is too much for some children. I had one who wouldn't eat MASHED POTATOES, of all the things, because it was too mushy/not enough texture. Smashed potatoes was the substitute. Basically, you just don't mash the potatoes all the way but leave chunks so that there is more texture. Sour cream and chives or butter simmered with garlic and parsley also are very nice in smashed potatoes. Grilling/roasting vegetables or lightly sautéing them also helps preserve a more robust texture. And my last piece of advice is to grow a garden and let the children pick and eat things themselves. All of my kids love raw radishes because we grow them in the garden and they can go and pick them, rinse them off (sometimes in the hose), and eat them all by themselves. Snap peas and carrots are also very popular summertime foraged snacks.
The experts have us a bit too anxious about everything.
How true this is. I have found consistently that most toddlers' bodies cannot even digest vegetables unless completely pureed or extremely soft (ie sweet potatoes or regular potatoes). And mostly they use the fat and protein to meet their needs! One way most toddlers or little kids will eat more veggies is actually in soup-- they're loaded with the soup flavor and almost themselves flavorless and very soft, so they're not an issue. I've also found that as they get older, they *will* mostly naturally try many different veggies and decide which they prefer. Particularly with lots of fat, which is needed to properly assimilate the micronutrients in the veg anyway. (My kids for example love homemade ranch dressing with any crunchy veggies. Some like salad dipped in lots of oil/vinegar or lemon.) But I don't stress on a day when I make a big main dinner and run out of time to make another veggie side. As my husband points out, "Don't worry! There're tomatoes in that pasta sauce!" ;)
I agree with everything you said here. I have seven children and only one out of the seven would just eat anything that was put in front of them. That being said, don't give up *offering* the offending foods. It usually is textural. My second oldest would not eat tomatoes or zucchini/squash because of the texture. Those foods are still "not his favorite" (thank you, Auntie Leila, for that sage advice many moons ago about not letting them say they "hate" things!) but he will eat cooked squash, and even zucchini now, as long as it is cut in smallish pieces. He still cannot handle a raw sliced tomato but will eat a large quantity of tomato sauce, fresh salsa, etc. My oldest couldn't handle the texture of lettuce, and I didn't fight it because of all of the gagging, but one day we were at a friend's house and she saw all of her friends enjoying a lovely green salad and decided to eat it too (I think she was about 5 or 6 at that time) and never had another issue since. Cut things in smaller pieces, not to hide them, just to make them more manageable for those who have texture issues. Also offering something that the child likes with the meal helps a lot. My 3-year-old has gulped down many a bite of scrambled eggs with *gasp* peppers/onions/zucchini/chopped kale (all things that make her gag because of the texture) with a quick bite of toast to help her be able to chew it and not feel the leafiness/sliminess in her mouth so strongly. Even if they just can't handle it (and sometimes she still can't) they at least get something in their belly. We do allow them to eat around things to some extent but, when they get older, they have to at least take a bite or a small 'no thank you helping'. Using iceberg lettuce with a few softer/stronger tasting greens mixed into a salad helps them accept a wider variety of greens. Chopped spinach or kale sauteed in olive oil with onion/garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice is very nice in a pocket of pita bread and my kids all ate this as long as the spinach was not heaped inside the pita too thickly. Offer tomatoes as a salsa instead of just raw/sliced for those who just can't deal with the slimy seedy innards. You can offer zucchini raw or just lightly sauteed and cut in small, diced pieces to get around the slimy seediness that develops if you offer slices of cooked zucchini, Winter squash can be diced and pan fried or roasted as well if the mushiness is too much for some children. I had one who wouldn't eat MASHED POTATOES, of all the things, because it was too mushy/not enough texture. Smashed potatoes was the substitute. Basically, you just don't mash the potatoes all the way but leave chunks so that there is more texture. Sour cream and chives or butter simmered with garlic and parsley also are very nice in smashed potatoes. Grilling/roasting vegetables or lightly sautéing them also helps preserve a more robust texture. And my last piece of advice is to grow a garden and let the children pick and eat things themselves. All of my kids love raw radishes because we grow them in the garden and they can go and pick them, rinse them off (sometimes in the hose), and eat them all by themselves. Snap peas and carrots are also very popular summertime foraged snacks.