Did you have a baby who would eat almost any fruit or vegetable you put in front of them? And then BAM almost overnight they started refusing just about everything? Or maybe your older kid is just not that into veggies?
Annoying isn’t it?
Avery (2yr 9mo) has always been more cautious around vegetables, but is an absolute fruit fiend, so I didn’t worry about his disinterest in veg (you can get all essential nutrition from other foods so it’s no biggie if they only have fruit).
So when he suddenly started skipping on fruit too it was super annoying. My parent brain started to freak out a little. Whenever I notice myself getting twitchy about what A is or isn’t eating, I try to check in with my nutritionist brain and ask myself is this really a big deal?
Taking a step back and looking at this from a nutritionist’s perspective helps me chill out. I hear from parents all the time that their kid doesn’t eat any fruit or veg. The parent (totally understandably) freaks out and starts to consult Kid Food Instagram and learns that they should sneak or hide veggies in sauces and muffins, or stick tiny star topped toothpicks in pineapple chunks.
I’ve talked a lot about why these cheap tricks don’t/can’t/won’t work if feeding is coming from a place of fear, control, and pressure.
When I objectively look at the diet of a child where the parent reports no fruit and veg, this is rarely the case. Even when kids are super selective. And it’s so easy to see why adults get confused about this - when what we see on Instagram is kids chugging green juices and roasted broccoli and mthrfckn PEAS in school lunchboxes - we lose sight of what actually counts as a portion of fruit and veg.
So, I wanted to share a {non exhaustive but more realistic} list of kid-friendly foods that help meet your kids 5-a-day in hopes that it helps you figure out if your kid really isn’t getting enough fruit and veg, or whether, if you zoom out a bit, it’s actually fine. Remember that a ‘portion’ of fruit and veg is roughly the size of their palm (which is probably way less than what you thought they needed!).
Now, if we want to get technical about this {because I can already feel the angry DMs coming}, the NHS advises that only one portion per day of bean thing, dried fruit, and fruit juice/smoothie ‘counts’ towards one of your 5-a-day. And sure, if your kid is able to eat a wider variety of foods, if you can afford it (which a lot of people can’t), or if you don’t have any other number of circumstances that make this really hard, then yeah, that would be *ideal*. But until someone fixes capitalism and colonialism, well, that’s not going to happen for everyone. So this is your friendly neighbourhood nutritionist telling you that if your kid is double dipping, I’m OK with that. It’s rough out there, so do what you need to do to make this easier.
Ok, so what if you have zoomed way the fuck out, and looked at my list and think to yourself, my kid still really isn’t eating any fruit or veg (or you think they might not be getting enough)?
Keep reading for some ideas:
1. DO NOT PANIC.
I know, I know. So much easier said than done. But the panic to pressure pipeline is a slip-n-slide. When we are feeling stressed about what our kids are, or aren’t eating, we bring that to the table, it shows up as overt pressure “just try a bite of peas and then you can have your ice cream”. Or more subtle pressure - watching their every move to see if they take a bite of peas. Kids are so perceptive to our weird vibes that if you’re feeling anxious at the table, they’ll pick up on it and anxiety kills kids' appetites.
If it feels accessible to you, grounding yourself before getting to the table/meal, and showing up calm can make a big difference here (don’t hit me 🫣)
And, in case it offers some reassurance.
For *most* kids - quitting all fruit and veg is typically a blip. Most of them will get over their bullshit on their own, without you doing anything. Give it a couple of weeks and see what happens. Also, kids can do pretty well on what seems like a really restrictive diet - even kids who struggle the most with food, who have a pretty limited diet usually eat at least some fortified foods (like cereals/bread products) which go a long way to help meet their needs. And, it goes without saying that if you’re worried, please reach out for support from a responsive feeding professional (who ideally has a weight-inclusive and anti-diet perspective). They can do an assessment and figure out where their gaps are (if there are any) and how you can plug them.
If they’re taking a decent kids A-Z type multivitamin, it will help cover their bases in the short-term and offer you a bit of relief too. And if they are, generally speaking, getting some foods from other groups (dairy, meat & beans, grains & starches, some fats) then that will go a long way to support their needs.
If your kiddo is not taking a supplement and you’d like to introduce one, especially if your kiddo is neurodivergent or you suspect there is something a bit more than just casual kid food fuckery going on then be cautious introducing a supplement. If they are old enough, involve the kid in the process and pick supplements with similar sensory qualities to preferred foods - taste, texture, colour. Cartoon characters can help too!