To be staggered that only 1 in 5 children eats vegetables every day

[Beloved72]

Are there really families where children get no vegetables with their evening meal or packed lunch/school lunch?

Quite shocked actually. I can get my head around children and adults not having 5 a day, but NONE?

And 1 child in 10 refusing to eat ANY vegetables ever?


Yikes. I worry for our future health.

[Jackieharris]

Wtf is a brassica?

I'd eat a smoothie for breakfast but not one with veg or avocado in it.

[MERLYPUSSEDOFF]

I want to know who 'teaches' kids that cabbage is gross. (possibly the same people who teach them bogies are there to pick?)
I was watching that programme Back in Time For Dinner where they served cabbage to a class of 10 yr olds. Most pulled faces. It must be a learned behaviour as if they been exposed to green veg from very young it would not be so alien.

[SomewhereIBelong]

Brassicas are cruciferous vegetables - sprouts, cabbage, brocolli, romanesco, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi, bok choy, turnip and swede are the main brassiacs

[SomewhereIBelong]

(or even the main brassicas)

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

I have a teenager that rarely eats any veg (onion and grated carrot hidden in bolognaise is about it). He does haowever have more than his 5 a day - it just all comes from fruit which i am aware is not the best. He has food "issues" (borderline aspergers) so we have never been able to make much progress on vegetables.

He is healthy and slim and at 14 over 6 foot tall so I'm not going to stress about it.

So yes, if asked he would say he doesn't have any veg on a typical day, but he will normally have:

Large glass of fruit juice (Usually pomegranet and blueberry but could be anything)
An apple
A decent sized bag of dried fruit - raisins/apricots/cranberrys
A banana
Tomatoes
1 or 2 others from: nectarine, fresh pineapple, grapes, melon, pear, peach, strawberrys, brambles, rasperries etc.
he might make or have a smoothie or more fruit juice too

He has a variety of colours/textures every day.

We do consider the health of his diet, but he would definitely come on the bad side of the veg statistic so we would be seen as poor parents I guess.

[Jackieharris]

Merly- I have awful memories of being served cabbage as a child.

It tastes bitter and has the consistency of sludge. I saw it as nothing but a punishment. I'd refuse to eat it as the sensation of it on my mouth was so awful. So I'd be made to sit at the table until it was time for bed, looking at it cold and unbeaten for 2 hours.

I'd never inflict such a horrible 'food' on my DCs I don't care how 'good' it is for them. (We eat other green veg)

I didn't 'learn' this aversion from anyone/anywhere. It just tastes disgusting (to me).

[Norfolkandchance1234]

The freezer is my friend.
I always have frozen peas, frozen green beans and tinned sweet corn around so I have no excuse for not adding a portion of veg to the evening meal despite how rushed and busy I might be to buy some or prepare it.
I have frozen mango to add to bananas for smoothies.

[Norfolkandchance1234]

And I always have apples in my fridge, I'm addicted to cold apples. I have at least 2 a day at work and my DC like theirs cut up with the apple slicer.

[Aussiemum78]

That's sad.

The only days we have no vege/salad at dinner is when we cook a curry. Even then I'll try to put a bit of broccolini on the side. And dd would have had fruit at school. Possibly berries in her yoghurt or smoothie.

Basic nutrition is as important as education, sleep and healthcare to me. The basic things a child needs. It doesn't have to be gourmet, an apple, some carrots and peas, an orange.

I do get the feeling that Australia is spoilt for choice with fresh food though, maybe cooler climates mean its more expensive?

[MrTumblesBavarianFanbase]

Red cabbage cooked with apple is absolutely delicious Jackie - green is better raw in colslaw. .. All my kids like red cabbage actually, although DD tries to convince her brothers not to eat it so she can have theirs if there is none left for seconds...

Making you sit and stare at it for hours like Emily Jane, (and overcooking it) were stupid and horrible, but cabbage itself isn't horrible necessarily.

[Aussiemum78]

Onemagnesium, it sounds like your son has a sweet tooth? That can be hard to break. Does he like the more sweet veggies like corn, pumpkin, carrot?

Bolognaise can hide heaps of stuff. Grated zucchini, mushrooms, red kidney beans, carrot, onion, garlic, tinned tomato. Fresh herbs too. I can make mine 70% veggies using a stick blender and no one notices.

Dd also likes muffins with feta, sun dried tomato and spinach.

[funnyossity]

I think overcooked cabbage is awful but lightly cooked it's one of my son's favourites. He moans about kale though - both the tougher texture and stronger flavour.

Aussiemum there is usually basic fruit and veg at reasonable prices, lots imported from Spain at the moment but UK spuds cabbge and carrots. They are however competing at the supermarket with loads of processed food on offer.

I remember in Australia meat and fish were cheaper, veg about the same but bread seemed very expensive! Here the white sliced along with bananas are sold cheap to get customers in.

[MERLYPUSSEDOFF]

JackieHarris
I was served cabbage (all types - dark green, white cabbage, sweetheart) all boiled with roast dinners. If the dark cabbage was bitter (but never over cooked as mum was a good cook) I was offered mint sauce to put on it. If I still didn't like it I was allowed to leave it. We also had stir fried greens and raw cabbage/ coleslaw type salads. My kids eat cabbage although one doesn't like dressed coleslaw. By you not trying them on well cooked cabbage they are probably learning it is evil. (but let's face it,you can live without cabbage anyway) Your dislike was probably compounded by the fact you had to sit and watch a plate of food you don't like go cold. The association could only get worse from there...
I hate plums. The skin is acidic and the flesh is meh and stringy in my opinion. I still give them to my kids as I don't think they should miss out because I don't like them. (I also buy ginger biscuits and they are the devil's food)

[funnyossity]

MERLY I never used to buy plums because I don't like them. Luckily the school were giving out fruit and my son found he liked them and asked me to buy them.

That was a positive intervention by the state!

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Aussiemum yes he does :)

He wont touch anything green at all. As a toddler he would happily eat brocolli, Sweetcorn, Peas etc I used to do a Courgette and cheese potato bake that he loved - then he took a dislike to everything to the point that he would be sick onto his plate so we fell into the trap and basically replaced all his veg with fruit as he would eat that without any fuss (unless it is bruised or damaged in any way!) Now of course we cant get him back eating it. he also doesn't eat potatoes but that's another story......

As a family we do eat plenty of veg/salad so he should view it as normal - i can't put it on his plate as he then rejects the whole meal. Spag Bol does contain whatever i can get away with - all blended before adding to the mince both to disguise it and becasue he wont eat the tomatoes in lumps or bits even though he will eat them sliced raw or mini tomatoes whole .

He will eat any kind of fish or meat or eggs so I'm not worried about his diet as such, it's just a pain that we can't have casseroles with the veg cooked in etc, it always has to be seperate and either added to the plate as a side or added in after his food has been dished. Although he isn't a fan of gravy on his food either depending on what it is!

his dream dinner would be Macaroni Cheese, a tin of Mackeral in olive oil and a bowl of fruit.

[sofatastic]

it's not the spinach element of the smoothie that sounds disgusting, more the mango, banana and avocado combo (and I loathe all three, although over half my children will eat banana, but not the other two).

[Jackieharris]

onemagnum he sounds just like me!

Some people just have much more sensitive taste buds than others.

As for having lots of things mixed together- the thought gives me a headache!

[Openup41]

My dc eat fruit everyday and salad or vegetables with their meal. I eat at least one piece of fruit daily and veg/salad with evening meals.

I was in shock when colleagues informed me they go for days without eating fruit/veg. It is part of my everyday eating.

[Givemeallthechocolate]

I'm sorry, but that cannot be right. If it is I'm fairly disgusted.

[CiderwithBuda]

This thread is over two years old! Zombie thread.

[safariboot]

I don't find it staggering. Cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, something frozen with chips for dinner. No vegetables there. If anything I'm surprised that as many as 20% of families can say they never do a day like that.

And I find the survey results unhelpful. They are lumping in families that might do that once or twice a month with families that eat like that nearly every day.

[AndrewJames]

This is a zombie thread.

The survey linked to was as stupid and unhelpful then as it is now. It made no sense.

[Bbbbbbbb2017]

I do varying levels of vegetables.

Saturday is faekaway so dippers, chips and corn on the cob. There is normal a casserole night, a pasta night with blended on Veg. Even on a lazy night a corn on the cob is easy.

Don't think my 2 year old ever has a die without veg of some sort

[funshine17]

Sadly one of my children fits into this category!

Let me start with the positive: my ds will eat any fruit or veggie (except pepper) raw or cooked in any form...also loves seafood and even things like jellied eels so he has a varied and exciting diet....But he is overweight despite strict portion control and 1-2 hours of hard exercise per day - again

Dd.....has refused to eat any fruit or veggies since she was about 18 months old - she’s now 10. I do give her hidden veggies and she will drink fruit juice and have a vitamin each day. We are working on carrots and peas at the moment....with pushing she will eat one small slice of cooked carrot or 4 peas.....sometimes. I always put whatever veg or fruit the rest of us are having on her plate. People think I’m joking and they ask which fruit will she eat.....er none...really! She won’t even eat baked beans! She snacks on cheese, Greek yogurt, nuts, and yes some unhealthy stuff too as she’s underweight.....I try not to battle with her as I worry she will have an eating disorder.

So, yes dd is one of those kids