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Eat more fruit!

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Eat more fruit

My son stopped eating fruit. When I looked closely at what was happening, I realised I wasn’t taking my own advice!

My teen had always enjoyed fruit but seemed to be eating less and less.

Every time I offered, he turned his nose up.

It’s one of the things that creeps up on you slowly and then all of a sudden, bam it slaps you and you realise you haven’t even noticed that your son has stopped eating fruit.

When I followed my own advice, feeding my boys went a whole lot more smoothly 😊

Ignoring my own advice about fruit

I felt like the plumber with the leaky taps in their house. So, I stopped and looked at what was happening and realised I was not following the strategies I know are proven to work, the ones that support children to eat more widely and more joyfully.

Great strategies

I decided to take my own advice. “If you want more fruit eaten, serve more, make it easy and make it appealing”. So, I did.

My teen loves fresh pineapple, and berries are always a win.

Grapes and oranges are accepted and available most of the year in Aotearoa NZ.

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I am a huge fan of children stepping up and helping with chores. I also know that if you want a teen to do something they are not really interested in, then making it as easy as possible helps.

I’m not sure it’s much different for most children (or husbands 😉 )

Each morning, I chopped up a plate of pineapple and orange,

added some grapes and left it ready for him. It’s easy, it looks appealing and because it’s all chopped up it’s simple to pick at, so he ate it.

When he was home after lunch I offered fruit again but usually it was a no. 

It’s also important to recognise that ‘offering’ can be done in different ways. “Do you want some fruit?” is an easy “NO”!

Then in the evenings when I knew he was getting hungry a few hours after dinner I’d bring some chopped fruit to him. I didn’t ask, I just brought it in, and because it’s there and it’s easy, it got eaten.

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Even – gasp – my fussy middle-aged child who is not really into fruit would often have a little as it’s there and it’s easy.

So, that is how I helped my family eat more fruit. Funnily enough, even I eat more fruit when I follow this 🙂

Most days, I also made a banana, yoghurt and cream-based smoothie (I use cream as it means I don’t need a sweetener). Sometimes I added vanilla and sometimes cocoa powder or berries. I made it late afternoon and put in the freezer. By the time it’s ready to eat it’s more like an ice cream than a smoothie. I’ve got to tell you it’s pretty darn good!

Even if your child eats no fruit yet, repeatedly serving is still helpful. It may not feel it, but it does support fruit eating long-term.

Why?

1. Comfort – they are building a comfort level by seeing fruit repeatedly.

2. Opportunity – when it’s there, they have the option to eat it.

3. Modelling – seeing other people eating fruit is helpful long-term and normalises the practice.

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So if you do want your family to eat more fruit – or any other food for that matter – some of these simple steps help:

1. Serve it more often.

2. Make it simple and easy to eat.

3. Make it appealing.

4. Model doing it.

Judith, MA Cantab (Cambridge University), MSc Psychology (first-class honours), is working on a PhD, is an AOTA accredited picky eating advisor, and internationally certified nutritional therapist and neuro-motor development practitioner. She works with 100+ families every year resolving fussy eating and returning pleasure and joy to the meal table.

She is also mum to two boys and the author of Creating Confident Eaters and Winner Winner I Eat Dinner. Her dream is that every child can approach food from a place of safety and joy, not fear.

Learn more about Judith here: https://theconfidenteater.com/about/

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