1. Avoid Introducing Young Children to Sugar in the First Place
Almost all children find sweets appealing. Forestall their exposure to candy, sugar and all sorts of sweets (even fruit juice) for as long as possible. It will happen soon enough. Early exposure to sweets impairs cultivation of other tastes and an appreciation for natural fruits and vegetables. Be a role model for children and keep sweets out of the house.Offer sweet-tasting herbal teas, such as licorice or fennel. Squeeze a fresh orange into a glass of water. Avoid sweetened beverages and especially soda pop. Resist the temptation to give kids sweets to make them happy or pacify temper tantrums. No good can come of it.
2. Encourage Children's Tastes for Healthy Foods
Toddlers and young children will often eat a little at a time, and little of one particular item or dish. However, children may be hungry often and prefer to snack throughout the day. You may be more successful in cultivating an appreciation for vegetables by trying not to force a child to eat an entire helping of broccoli, for example, but having a wide variety of vegetables available and allowing just one or two bites at a time. This helps young taste buds acquire an appreciation of a wide variety of vegetable flavors. Children will also tend to eat more and appreciate more vegetable flavors and textures when veggies are lightly steamed (even if served chilled); a variety of dipping sauces is available. Allow children to graze on vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces and dip them in a sweet sauce such as Russian dressing, or a cheesy sauce such as ranch dressing. Peanut-butter dressings and honey vinaigrettes are often tolerated, while spicy barbecue and complex blends are not.Children often favor the sweeter vegetables: carrots, peas and corn. Once you find something a child likes (or at least tolerates), continue serving it while attempting to widen his horizons toward broccoli, beets, brussels sprouts and celery. Initial rejection is no reason to stop serving the food. A child may have to encounter the vegetable on 10 or more occasions before she acquires a taste for it. Keep trying: Serving it with different sauces, cooked a different way and/or with other condiments until the palate can be developed.
3. Search for Natural Sweets with Some Health Benefits
Search out and develop alternatives to candy, ice cream, cookies and store-bought sweets, pastries and donuts. Make smoothies with frozen bananas and soy milk or fresh fruit as an ice cream alternative. Stew whole pears or apples and serve with cinnamon, dried fruit, coconut or any other natural sweet a child might like. Make a whole-grain pancake or waffle and offer it as a dessert with fresh fruit slices, peanut butter and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup. Bake homemade cookies with redeeming nutritional virtues. Bake with honey instead of white or brown sugar. Use dates, raisins, chopped fruit, applesauce or mashed bananas to sweeten recipes, and add nuts, flax seeds, wheat germ, oatmeal, coconuts or other ingredients to reduce the amount of flour and increase the nutrient and fiber content.Only allow such sweets as a dessert or reward for a good day's vegetable intake. Never allow sweets, even the healthier ones, to crowd out a child's primary meals and nutritious snacks.
