Nutrition Month: Take a Fruit and Vegetable Challenge!

As March comes to a close, so does National Nutrition Month.  Across the country, companies, organizations, hospitals and schools run events to promote healthy eating. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics chooses a new theme every year and offers promotional and educational materials to help professionals spread the word about healthy eating.

When my son entered kindergarten nine years ago(!!), I was recruited by the parent organization to run a nutrition-related activity at school. I, along with a partner, pulled out all of the stops and taught age-appropriate lessons to every class in the building. We taught kids about healthy snack choices and incorporating more fruits and vegetables into their diets. Although times and school districts have changed, and Nutrition Month was downgraded to Nutrition Week at school, teaching variety in eating to kids has not. And although I no longer go into every classroom, nor am I in the same school district as my partner in crime, I am still doing my part to educate our kids, even if it’s only one week a year.

Getting kids to eat vegetables has to rank high on a parents’ frustration to-do list. But I have a theory. Actually, it’s not my theory, it’s a scientific fact. Here it is: Children need to be exposed to a new food nine to eleven times before they will add it to their familiar food repertoire. The best way to get kids to recognize fruits and vegetables as familiar foods is to serve it to them… often. Even if they only take one bite each time, eventually, they will add it to their repertoire. Another way to get them to eat fruits and vegetables? Make a contest out of it and include their friends. It’s amazing what the promise of a prize and the positive peer pressure of friends can do to a child’s willingness to try something new or eat something they have previously deemed “gross”.  Enter the 5-a-Day Fruit and Vegetable Challenge.

The 5-A-Day Fruit and Vegetable Challenge that we run in my school consists of asking the children to keep a log of all of the fruits and vegetables they eat during the course of a week.  To make it fun, each day is assigned a color of the rainbow:   Monday is Red, Tuesday is Yellow/Orange, Wednesday is Green, Thursday is Blue/Purple and Friday is Eat a Rainbow.  They can eat any color on any day, but nutrition education and recipes emailed each day highlight the color of the day.  For kids with texture issues or those very picky eaters, they can participate by using their senses to explore the fruit or vegetables – touching, smelling, and shaking to listen for seeds all count! In my district, the school lunch program also coordinates their fruit and vegetable offerings with the color of the day.  That way, the kids are getting support at home and at school, giving them the opportunity to succeed (and win a prize of course). At the end of the week, the kids hand in their logs and receive a small prize. But if your school does not observe National Nutrition Month (or week), why not institute the celebration of eating healthy with your family?

Do some fruits and vegetables cause you digestive pain and discomfort?  If you want to learn more about the low-FODMAP diet to improve your gut health, I have a free video training that explains 3 Strategies for Success with the Low-FODMAP Diet. You can click here to get instant access to this training, which can be very helpful to understand more of the why behind this specific diet for people with gut health issues.

Here’s a twist on the challenge to try at home:  Fruit and Vegetable Bingo.  Sit down with your kids and make a list of fruits and vegetables for the family to try.  Let them fill out a Bingo card by writing the name of a fruit or a vegetable in each box.  Each time one food from the list is tried or played with (I encourage exploration!), check off that box.  Once a row, column, or diagonal line is completed, offer a small prize.  Note:  The prize should not be food!  I’m thinking a day off of a chore, or extra computer time, or letting the winner choose what’s for dinner, and for older kids, let them prepare the meal and include their favorite fruit or vegetable from the list.

Here’s a Bingo chart for you to use:

Print out a copy for each family member!

Who can resist a good old-fashioned game of Fruit and Vegetable Bingo?  Not me!

However you choose to get your daily dose fruits and vegetables a day, whether it be a group challenge or a food journal or Fruit and Vegetable Bingo, you will be doing your body a favor.  But remember, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetable is a beneficial behavior to practice regularly, and not one only observed during National Nutrition Month.

Want a challenge of your own?  Download a copy of my free e-book, “The Inner Girl Power Challenge,” and jumpstart your way to ditching diets, eating fearlessly and being comfortable in the skin you are in!