June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month-How can we encourage our kids to eat more?

Here are a few ideas but I'm going to spend the month focusing on fruits and vegetables. Hopefully I can keep up on this blog a little better than I have been.

1. Eat fruits and vegetables yourself so they see you eating them.

2. If you have little ones start them early. If you start them on fruits and vegetables before they get set in their ways you'll have a lover.

3. Let them help you cook or prepare them. My kids love helping me get fruits and vegetables ready. They even like helping when we cook them.

4. Get creative with presenting produce. Some kids will eat more or even try something new if it's presented in a fun way. For example: make a silly face out of fruit or create a woodland scene with broccoli for trees.

5. Grow a garden with their help. Let them pick out a few fruits or vegetables they want to grow.

6. Let them pick out a fruit or vegetable at the store.

7. Make fruits and vegetables more accessible. Have them ready to eat and divide up into a serving size makes it more likely they will grab some and eat it.

8. Don't offer candy or other sweets as a reward for eating your fruit and vegetables.

9. Use fresh vegetable or fruit with a dip as an appetizer for your main course.

10. Use a farmer's market for some unique produce and again let the kids pick what they want to try.

11. Read children s literature with fruits and vegetables that includes fun characters and encourages healthy eating Like in Herb the vegetarian Dragon!

12. Never say you don't like a certain produce item or that someone else or your kid doesn't like it. Repeatably saying someone doesn't like it programs the brain into thinking they really don't like it.