Dietician warns about Jessica Seinfeld's veggie strategy for kids

by Brian White (Subscribe to Brian White's posts)
Nov 30th 2007 5:05PM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Getting kids to eat vegetables is an enormous task, and it can test the limits of a parent's patience on a daily basis. While vegetable consumption is one of the best things you can impress upon a child for good health, all kids know is that they want good-tasting food. Most vegetables have a perception of tasting bland as we all know.

So, when Jessica Seinfeld published a book recently that suggested dressing up those veggies in sugary treats and other types of junk foods, the reaction was mixed.

Yes, that approach does get kids to eat veggies, but at the same time it's giving the psychological impression that those sugary foods are okay to eat. This is not good, and a dietician is taking issue with Seinfeld's book because of this.

What do you think? If you could get your child to eat vegetables by hiding them in cupcakes and other 'foods,' would you do that? Why or why not?

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Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Hannah Limbardo 11-30-2007 @ 9:50PM

Brian: I agree with UC Berkeley's Patricia Crawford who's made the criticism of Seinfeld and her approach to deceiving children.

I am typical as a mother. My 7-year old boy is a good eater, and will generally eat his vegetables. My 4-year old daughter is a picky eater, and she simply refuses to eat vegetables on her own. My husband and I have to spend a good deal of our time in working with her to eat the necessary foods that are "good for her."

That said, our diligence is (I hope) paying off. This year she's started to take after her brother, and on more than one occasion, she's eaten her veggies without a two-hour struggle at the dinnertable.

Brian 11-30-2007 @ 9:51PM

Good to hear, Hannah. It's never easy to get a picky eater to consume those veggies, but if it works, it's one of the best lifetime habits one can have.