Top Tips for getting your kids to eat more fruit and vegetables

• Hide vegetables in tomato sauces and fruit and vegetables in smoothies 

• Think of fruits in savoury dishes too – lamb tagines with apricots, stir-fry chicken & pineapple, home made apple sauce with meat dishes, fruit salsas with rice dishes 

• Serve raw carrot and cucumber with favourite dips like homemade hummus, guacamole, salsa, yogurt & herb 

• Serve every meal with a side of crudities.  This will upscale a sandwich, pasta or wrap. 

• Slow cooked stews can be a good way to disguise the taste and texture of many vegetables – Try beetroot, sweet potato, swede, carrots & parsnips. 

• Always offer fruit as a snack – Keep the fruit bowl full and empty out the sweet box. 

• Frozen fruits are good standbys, especially in winter when choice is reduced.  Stew some berries and top with oats or add frozen fruits to smoothies.   

• Get kids to help in the kitchen – Cooking will encourage them to experiment with foods. 

• Keep to regular snack & mealtimes 

• Always take your own snacks with you on journeys & daytrips – apples, bananas, humous, satsumas and grapes travel well.  Try making some homemade power balls!  

• Grow simple fruit and vegetables in the garden – strawberries and tomatoes grow quickly. 

• Try sprouting seeds or growing cress – Children are never happier to eat food than when they’ve grown it themselves 

• Visit ‘Pick your own’ farms – kids are more likely to eat what they’ve had fun picking! 

• Introduce new foods gradually – don’t be put off if your child doesn’t like something first time round. 

• Eat together as a family wherever possible. This exposes your child to adult food and adult table manners!