Eat your greens!

[sheoaouhra]

really, what has happened to this old staple? It used to be taken for granted that greens would be offered and encouraged to be eaten every day. I just don't see this now - many children I know are going a week or more between mouthfuls of green, as far as I can see- surely it is well known that fresh greens are crucial for a balanced diet and good health?

please tell me your children and young people are eating greens!

What do people mean when they say they had no option? I didn't have the option not to eat veg because mouth was prised open, the food forced in, and then my mouth was held shut until I swallowed it.

Funnily enough, it did not instil in me a love of vegetables. Carrot still makes me gag at the memory of retching into my mouth while being forced to eat it.

I had resisted any other punishments or rewards, and when it comes down to it, physical force is the only real way to not give an option to not eat veg.

Ffs

My kids eat most veg. There are things they don't like but I don't insist they eat them because taste buds develop as they get older and I just don't believe in forcing kids to eat (I do encourage trying one mouthful though).
I also think it's very important to see parents eating vegetables too so most days we eat dinner together.

Mine like dark green lettuce. In a salad, on a sandwich or bagel. However if you were to ask them if they like spinach they’d say no.

Both like broccoli, peas, cabbage, green beans, Mangetout, sugar snap. we do ok on the green veg front tbh!

Oops I got it the wrong way round. He's under a paediatric dietician, not a dietary paediatrician. I'm very tired today and mis-typed. (And mis-thought).

Who says they’re not? Of course every one knows what they should be eating. My chn regularly ate green vegetables. I teach young chn at primary about healthy lifestyles and it’s interesting hearing what they eat. A popular dish is plain pasta with ketchup and nothing else!

What would you like parents of kids with SEN, ARFID, sensory difficulties to do? Force it down their throats? If you knew even the bare minimum about parenting children with serious food issues, you'd know that dietitians commonly tell parents to feed children what they will eat, and not make the dining table a battleground.

Your post is tin-eared and patronising, and your attitude does nothing to combat the "obesity crisis". The only thing you will be achieving here is to make already stressed parents feel shit.

No physical force. Asian vegetarian diet. We ate veggies and lentils and rice at every meal at home. There was nothing else offered. Very occasionally we might have some pasta or noodles.

That's what I still eat, mostly. I like it.

Not the best article as the life expectancy of the tribe mentioned is 45 so long term effects of poor diet not understood.

Agree but children have junk food taste buds, I only started enjoying greens when in my mind 20s

I was made to sit at the table until I'd eaten everything, no matter how cold or slimy, and had my jaw held shut to make me swallow if I really didn't want to eat it.
That was my "no option."
My sister used to swallow things whole to get through meal times and she's still got issues with food over 40 years later.

My daughter eats carrots, apples, broccoli, beans, green beans. I'm not forcing her to eat anything she doesn't like. She has something fresh at every meal so I'm not worried really.

I eat anything from 5-10 fruits and/or veg a day.

I don't get the obsession to be honest. My kids won't eat most cooked vegetables. They will eat cucumber, tomatoes and raw carrots and not much beyond that. The occasional cob of corn.

Rather than cook vegetables to waste it, I add something (above) that they like and call it a day. They have lots of fruit throughout the day too.

Whilst of course, lots of vegetables would be ideal, most kids struggle with vegetables in their early years and gradually enjoy them more as they age.

More important, I think, is limiting sweet treats, too much salt, and processed food.

We do have fruit, veg, and salads every day, but not necessarily "greens" if that basically means brassicas (cabbage/sprouts/broccoli).
Mainly because we don't eat many traditional meat and veg dinners.
We eat lots of peppers, courgettes, peas, pulses, carrots, salad veg, tomatoes, baked beans, and stir-frys (which would probably have broccoli)
If I do a roast or cottage pie or a stew, we would likely have more traditional vegetables with that.

obviously

Still trying over here, we had various coloured peppers, peas, tomatoes and cucumber on the table. DD will only eat tomatoes.

most kids struggle with vegetables in their early years and gradually enjoy them more as they age.

You may be right about many children growing up in the UK, but from what I can make out it isn't the case in most of the rest of the world. I don't understand why but I think the poster who said it's key for children to see adults eating vegetables is probably on the money - that, and deep-seated issues around food in the parents and the culture which the children pick up on. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in a family where eating vegetables was just a given. I totally agree that it's counter-productive to make food into a big emotional issue, but most humans don't have sensory issues around fruit and vegetables and are perfectly capable of eating a wide range of foods.

I openly admit that of 3 kids, two of mine wouldn’t entertain the idea of greens. One has extreme selective eating and the other vomits if any texture disagrees with him. Oddly it’s my child who’s high needs/will need a lifetime of support that’s the easiest to feed.

A lot of ‘but you’d have just got on with it years ago’ thrown out here. I grew up with a very ‘picky’ mother who by all accounts didn’t eat what was put in front of her either as a child. Sunday dinners at my grandparents as a child included tinned sliced carrots just for her palate - this was the 90s and she was well into her 30s. In fact I was the family joke for ‘being a human dustbin’ simply for being the only one who’d eat whatever was placed in front of me. It did happen years and years ago, people just didn’t talk about it because they were from the ration generation and to refuse now plentiful food was seen as embarrassing.

What do people mean when they say they had no option? I didn't have the option not to eat veg because mouth was prised open, the food forced in, and then my mouth was held shut until I swallowed it.

Well I just mean that food was often mainly made up of vegetables ( chick pea dishes with spinach, rice with vegetables cooked in it, baked aubergines, tomato salads etc) and that is what was for tea and there were no options given. I don’t think it would have occurred to my mum that this type of food was meant to be endured or used as a means of control, it was generally considered to be tasty!
I do wonder if the lack of cooking skills in a lot of British families contributes to the idea that vegetables are a penance?
I do think the garbage that passes for kid food in the uk is criminal. Most countries don’t have “kid food”.

Yes, exactly, in some cultures, the idea that kids dislike veggies and struggle with them does not exist. It would be like saying " I dislike food".

Veggies were supposed to be a treat, not something to be grimly endured. Greens as well. My mum wasn't trying to torture me. We all ate the same food.

Some of those parents have explained their reasoning though. I'd certainly not be forcing a child with ASD to eat food that would upset them.

My exBIL was forced to sit and eat his mother's awful cooking regularly and it's caused him to have a really limited diet as an adult.

I feel irritated by the faintly sanctimonious tone of the OP. And I say that as a mum of kids who happily eat veg and ‘greens’. Judgement disguised as faux-concern always makes me cringe.

How fucking dare you??? I expect you don't have kids! The ignorance of children and how the work, is astounding.

Absolutely agree with this. Glad to see OP has been appointed Green Champion of Mumsnet.

Wow
So much judgement.

I was a fussy eater as a child. I only liked homemade food with the exact same ingredients (lots of cooked veg though). My mum got so annoyed when I identified that it was "different" but admitted it was. (Even changing the brand of tinned tomatoes caused problems). I disliked almost all junk food except chocolate.

However, SHE was a fussy eater in the 50s! Her "Sunday roast" was chips and eggs.

By the time I came along she was very into salads and vegetables and fruit. But because of her experience she didnt force me.

Now I have 2 fussy eaters. Because of my experience, I don't force them. They eat a wide variety of food and vegetables BUT they need to be cooked in sauces (no need to hide them). The only veg they accept on the side are peas.

My eldest has made leaps and bounds and now tries lots of new things. My youngest is slower but is gradually getting better.

And fussy old me? Well, I now eat lots of vegetables although Im still not a huge fan of fruit.

My autistic child saw a consultant dietician just last week, who reassured me that a heavy, daily reliance on veg & fruit is massively outdated and was based on times when barely any food was enriched. She said it would be very, very difficult for a child to become malnourished in today's times, provided they're eating something each day as even bread & cereal is fortified. She even went on to describe one fellow student at med school who had ARFID and ate nothing but jam sandwiches- every single day for years. He's now 6ft 2, goes to the gym and is a very successful doctor who eats anything & everything and plays rugby.

Obviously I still get whatever veg into my DC that I can, most days but fruit & veg wise, she will only eat carrots and apples because she has ASD and ARFID. Autistic children WILL play the long game and WILL starve themselves before eating something that they don't want!!!!