Playing with food

Parents can help their kids learn to love healthy eating.

Family Features

According to the 2007 Produce For Kids study, 96 percent of children don’t get the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. That won’t surprise a lot of parents. Getting children to eat any fruits or vegetables at all can be a big challenge.

With 39 percent of all U.S. children overweight or obese, getting kids to make better food choices is more important than ever.

Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins, nutrients and fiber, are low in calories and can help prevent many diseases, including high blood pressure, heart disease and some cancers. But kids aren’t compelled by the nutritional benefits of produce. They want to have fun eating food they like. So they need some help to become healthy eaters.

How can a parent get fruit-phobic or veggie-avoiding kids to eat more of what they really need? Mypyramid.gov, a Web site dedicated to helping people make smart food choices, has some tips for coping with picky eaters.

ULet your kids be “produce pickers.” Let them help pick out fruits and veggies at the store.

UKids like to try foods they help make. All of that mixing, mashing and measuring makes them want to taste what they are creating.

UMake meals a stress-free time. If meals are times for family arguments, your child may learn unhealthy attitudes toward food.

UOffer choices. Rather than ask “Do you want broccoli for dinner?” ask “Which would you like for dinner: broccoli or cauliflower?”

Another suggestion, from The Produce For Kids study, is to use dips to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. Sixty-eight percent of the moms sur veyed said that their children ate more fruit and vegetables when they were served with dip.

One of the latest items on the market to help meet this need is Marzetti Disney Dips, a line of fruit and veggie dips for children that makes eating produce fun and nutritious. Each portion-control package contains the right amount of dip for a serving of fruit or vegetables. The packaging also features favorite Disney characters, games and trivia questions ‚ï all of which make eating healthy a lot more fun.

Picky eaters don’t have to stay picky eaters. With some encouragement and creative ideas from parents, they can learn to love eating what’s best for them.

For more information, visit marzetti.com/disney.

Turn PB & J into PB & A — peanut butter and apples! This lunchtime treat is a great way to please picky sandwich eaters and make sure they get some healthy fruit.

Open Face Caramel Peanut Butter Sandwich

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 2

2 tablespoons (1.25-ounce individualcontainer) Marzetti Disney Cinnamon Caramel Apple Dip

2 tablespoons favorite peanut butter

2 slices favorite bread

Sliced apples, peanuts, dried cranberries or raisins

In a small bowl, mix together dip and peanut butter until smooth.

Spread two tablespoons of caramel mixture on each slice of bread.

Arrange sliced apples, peanuts and dried fruit atop each sandwich and serve.

Put some crunchy fun into snack time with this fruity rice cake. This is one treat the kids will love making them selves — just set out the ingre dients and let them build a fruit-filled snack!

Rice Cake Snack

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Servings: 1

2 tablespoons (1.25-ounce individual container) Marzetti Disney Cinnamon Caramel Apple Dip

1 rice cake

Topping options:

Diced red or green apple, chopped bananas, favorite dried fruit, mini chocolate chips or favorite chopped nuts

Spread 2 tablespoons dip onto a rice cake. Top with one or two topping options and serve.