Guest Blog | Rebecca Scritchfield | November 30, 2007

Hiding Vegetables in Kids' Food

Stealth health. It’s a term that has been used for years to describe adopting healthy behaviors without much effort. But it’s been all the rage since Jessica Seinfeld appeared on Oprah with her new book, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food (HarperCollins, 2007). The book benefited from the “Oprah Factor” and immediately soared to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. It now holds the #2 spot.

The premise of the book is to show parents how they can hide puréed vegetables in foods kids will eat. Think chocolate cake made with beets and quesadillas with butternut squash hidden in the cheese.

The book managed to survive a blip fraud scandal brought on by a USA Today article questioning its originality. Of course, the idea of puréed vegetables is not novel. But author Missy Chase Lapine claimed that Seinfeld copied at least 15 recipes from her book, The Sneaky Chef (Running Press, 2007), which was published just six months earlier and had been rejected by HarperCollins.

All scandals aside, there really is an important question here. Should parents covertly hide vegetables from their kids in other foods? What kind of message does it send? Could parents be hurting their kids in the long run even if they have the best intentions of helping them eat healthier?

Dietitians and culinary professionals have been enthusiastically discussing the pros and cons of this particular stealth health practice. On one side of the argument, there’s a “whatever works” mindset. In other words, if your kids don’t like cooked carrots, hide them in meatloaf and maybe one day they will grow to like them. But some experts believe that this encourages poor lifelong eating habits because kids aren’t learning how to enjoy vegetables at a young age.

“After about age three I think it's a disservice to hide vegetables. Kids need to have a variety of things to taste and enjoy. They should not automatically be fed "kid food" or catered to like they don't have tastebuds like the rest of us”, said Kitty Broihier, a registered dietitian.

Some experts believe we’re better off shifting the focus of eating vegetables from deception, which carries negative connotations, to encouragement.

Mary Abbott Hess, a Chicago-based author, educator and nutrition consultant said, “Sure, we all want kids to eat and enjoy vegetables. But I think it's best to think of vegetables as a good choice, make them taste delicious and engage kids in growing, selecting, and preparing them.

But what if your kids outright refuse to eat vegetables? Isn’t some vegetables, albeit spinach purée added to hamburgers, better than none at all? There’s nothing wrong with doing it, but don’t expect a huge nutritional bang for your buck. After you go through all the trouble of making purées in advance, you may only be adding ¼ cup to a recipe that serves eight.

Chances are you’d see greater returns if you involved your kids in preparing meals on a regular basis. Not only will you be bonding, but you’ll be shaping lifelong positive health habits at a time when home-cooked meals are a dying breed and this fast food nation would rather order takeout.

(Rebecca Scritchfield is an exercise and nutrtion writer, speaker and consultant. Opinions expressed by Health Commentary guest bloggers do not necessarily represent the views of Health Commentary.)

by Rebecca Scritchfield

Comments

December 03, 2007

Kids CAN Love Veggies

Hiding is not the answer. Instead, entice kids with great tasting vegetables.

“Stealth” nutrition is a smart thing but in our opinion, should not be used as a substitute for overall good nutrition. For example, in creating recipes for the public (our audience is mostly parents with kids at MealMakeoverMoms.com) we look for clever ways to incorporate ingredients that boost the nutritional benefits of the dish. Yes, vegetables are certainly one of those ingredients – we rely on things like shredded carrot, finely diced red/orange/yellow bell peppers, and canned pumpkin -- but unlike most of the recipes in Deceptively Delicious we certainly don’t stop there. We often use fruits, whole wheat flour (in addition to white), healthy oils such as canola and olive, ground flaxseed, nuts, beans, and omega-3 eggs, yolks and all.

At first glance, a parent worn down by their child’s refusal to eat vegetables might look to Deceptively Delicious or The Sneaky Chef as the answer to their dinnertime prayers. Cooking, pureeing and then hiding vegetables may seem like a simple solution and a way to improve a child’s diet. The downside, however, is that parents may find it too easy to forgo the tried and true solution to getting Junior to eat his veggies: perseverance!

Ironically, many of the recipes we analyzed provide so little pureed vegetable (a tablespoon or two) that it doesn’t seem worth the bother. They are also incredibly time consuming. Why not, as a busy parent, take all that energy and put it to better use? Create vegetable side dishes that appeal to kids. Lightly steamed broccoli drizzled with extra virgin olive oil (evoo) and kosher salt tastes great as do baby carrots steamed and then topped with butter and maple syrup and cauliflower tossed with evoo, kosher salt, and Parmesan cheese and then baked.

Our goal is to show parents that plain old green, orange, yellow and red vegetables, cooked the right way and “marketed” to kids the right way, can easily and happily find their way onto the family dinner table. If that same parent also adds some canned pumpkin puree to a brownie mix or grated carrot to meatloaf, then we see it as the icing on the cake!

by Liz Weiss, MS, RD & Janice Newell Bissex, MS, RD

December 03, 2007

A More Sound Approach

Liz and Janice -

Thank you for your thoughtful comments.

The approach you take in www.mealmakeovermoms.com is more realistic than the "stealth" hiding in the other books. You make substitutions where it makes sense from a nutrition and taste standpoint without wasting precious time and energy on lengthy purees. Most parents need quick and easy ideas.

I would love to hear strategies parents use in order to get their kids to try vegetables. I bet many would say that it takes some amount of persistence and you may need to offer it in a different way like your parmesan cauliflower you mentioned.

My husband doesn't like many cooked vegetables. I bought a bag of frozen cauliflower with cheese sauce and cooked it in 5 minutes then I put it in a blender and served it as mashed potatoes. I just didn't have the time to make mashed potatoes from scratch that day. He loved it and now will eat the cauliflower prepared that way. Not stealthy... but healthy!

by Rebecca Scritchfield

December 11, 2007

Cooking with Kids

Added Benefits

Rebecca-

Thanks for covering this important topic. Trish and I, in raising our four kids, always believed in exposing them to many differing foods, including vegetables, early in life. That probably reflected our own early life experiences. She was one of ten, and I one of 12. So we ate most anything we were given, as fast as we could, for fear all the food would be gone.

But the other side of this is the many added benefits of involving kids in food preparation. As an early childhood educator, cooking with kids was part of their learing curve. Cognitive skills, manipulative skills, concentration, team play and confidence building were all as important as the meal itself.

Thanks, Mike

by mike magee

December 18, 2007

Rather than 'hide' we 'reveal!'

Shaping Youth uses counter-marketing tactics to get kids to eat healthy by showing them what REALLY goes into their body when they eat junk. Our Dare to Compare: Gross out Game for Good Nutrition is easily tailored to kids' own veggie preferences too

Great job on the article, Rebecca, I’ll be anxious to hear what you have to say about that ‘Squisine’ book review (haven’t read it myself yet)

Thought I’d kick in to this lively commentary with a few ‘outcomes’ from our ‘living lab’ of kids where we try all kinds of tools and techniques of media/mktg. mavens in Shaping Youth’s “Dare to Compare: A Gross Out Game for Good Nutrition” (which is our riff on the reality show Fear Factor).

Rather than ‘hide’ what’s healthy, we ‘reveal’ what’s UNhealthy and gross them out with hands-on demos and simulations (e.g. dried out Playdough forced through a protruder contraption to simulate clogged arteries, etc.) and let’s just say…er…we don’t have much trouble getting them to eat veggies in unique ways.

I think our society (and kids menus!) underestimate children’s ability to try new things and default to bland palate offerings persistently (or fried ‘fingers’ and ‘sticks’ concoctions, bleh)

Tip #1 In our wellness session to counter-market media/food marketing childhood obesity we were shocked on our ‘dip day’ (comparing ranch variations of fat free, organic, light, and low sodium, etc.) that the kids SNARFED two entire catering trays of raw veggies and jalapenos right down to the stems left on the little cherry tomatoes! No hiding whatsoever...so a.) try dips, sticks, fondue, fun stuff b.) Don’t underestimate kids’ palates!

Tip #2 Introduce veggies in wild/fun/unique ways that taste great…Here’s my post called ‘Get kids to eat green using Shrek against his drek’ where we introduced green cilantro swamps, fresh spinach ‘slime,’ a mystery munch (jicama) and such…and yes, we DID ‘hide’ some health in a green smoothie blindfolded taste test (it was wheat grass and tofu) but that was to get that ‘ewwww’ factor (AFTER they announced they liked it!)

Tip #3: Use the same gimmicks/tactics as advertisers to ‘sell’ them on veggies via fun dips, enticing food presentation, even edible art (e.g. grinning fruit plates still get an ‘aww’ he’s so CUTE from my preteen) Here’s an article I wrote called Selling Healthy Kids Cuisine on Product Presentation.

Tip #4 Introduce veggies early and often. My daughter teethed on peeled, cold cucumber chubs as a toddler and to this day it’s her favorite ‘comfort food’…so I think some of it has to do with what we introduce early on, as well.

Tip #5 Steal ideas from innovative restauranteurs if something works well! (e.g. there was a place in Hawaii that gave kids ‘points’ for trying diff. spices or preparations which they could ‘save up’ in a freq. diner program for a special rainbow pineapple boat/sherbet fandango that was delectable looking; mirror these tactics at home w/veggies!)

Shaping Youth’s childhood obesity category has a bunch of healthy eating/kids counter-marketing tactics like this…and even some ‘guest editorials’ from Rebecca! Congrats on the insightful blog, I’ll be adding it to my ‘Google Reader!’

by Shaping Youth

January 13, 2008

Great Ideas, but...

Though I completely agree that getting kids to actually eat their vegetables is a the best thing you can do - when you have a child (and husband, for that matter) that has Sensory Integration issues and simply cannot stand the feel of some things in their mouth, by hiding them, I can get SOME vegetables into them without a constant struggle.

I have tried every book and article I can find, and neither one of my "boys" can eat a piece of broccoli or mashed potatoes. Once in a while a green bean actually makes it into their stomach. But usually it involves gagging. I have even employed an occupational therapist, who has given me hope, that with enough therapy, my 7 year old MAY someday be able to eat grainy or bumpy foods!

But for now I say THANK YOU to anyone who gives me ideas of how to hide vegetables and fruits in my families food. Though it may only be a tablespoon, it's more than he's had before. So don't be critical of those of us that take the time to puree foods and hide them, it's all we've got! And don't discourage the people with ideas of what can be hidden, I need all the help with this that I can get!

by Jennifer C

January 16, 2008

When Hiding Makes Most Sense

Jennifer,

Thank you for your comment and for bringing sensory integration issues to the forefront. This can occur most often in people with autism or other developmental disabilities. But it can trouble anybody and boy is it frustrating.

So, you are right. There are some situations where getting any amount of fruit or vegetable in foods is better. In this case, the purees are a therapeutic way of dealing with a major challenge.

I am sure you agree these books are targeting the general public and not specifically those dealing with sensory integration. I am thrilled you find these helpful. But I did want to provide some alternate ideas for getting more vegetables and fruits in kids' diets without necessarily going through all the purees.

Regards,
Rebecca

by Rebecca Scritchfield

January 17, 2008

Thank you

Rebecca - thank you for the kind words. I definitely agree that getting kids to actually eat vegetables is really important. I even offer the real thing at each meal. If there is spinach in a meal, I offer actual spinach with dinner. I ask my child to take one "no thank you" bite. After 9 weeks of Occupational Therapy, he has started eating rice. This is something he was NEVER able to eat - even as an infant. There is always hope, and you have to just keep trying!!

Sincerely,

Jennifer C

by Jennifer C

January 23, 2008

nothing wrong with hiding veges

it is ok to hide veges as long as you still offer both raw and cooked as a side as the real thing regularly.

I am an early childhood trained teacher in Australia and have seen some pretty shocking children's diets over my years. I see nothing wrong with hiding veges and fruit in foods as long as the fair dinkum veges and fruits are offered regularly by themselves alone, with a meal or as a side. This way, you are boosting the children's nutrition which is what any good parent should do, as well as teaching them to eat them the way they are. You get the best of both worlds. I have been doing it with my child since he began eating the same foods as us (mum and dad) . The key to raising healthy kids is start off the right way, do not sweeten foods from the start, you do not need to, and keep healthy snacks in the house in view, and hide the treats away for special times. Teach special, from healthy as early as you can, and provide a balance of foods, colours and textures. Make food fun too. Even a 2 year old can help stir and add ingredients. Teach portion control gently as you go, give plenty of water too. My 3 year old gets his own water from our bench top water filter. Lastly, role model healthy eating yourself so your children see "ok, mum and dad eat like this, this is the way i shouldeat too".

by gerry watts

January 24, 2008

Sensible Strategy

I think most people would share your sentiment... There's nothing bad about using veggies as substitutions as long as they don't replace the real thing.

Gerry,

I appreciate your comments on several fronts. I think most people would agree with you that you aren't doing any real harm by hiding veggies (provided you have the time to make the purees), especially if you are cutting back the sugar in sweets which are normallly high in sugar (e.g. sugar free applesauce in a cake recipe usually cuts oil). You can also sub vegetable oil with canola oil, which is a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. This is the Meal makeover mom's approach (see their earlier post).

I do think it is important to stress the positive benefits of cooking with kids and involving them in more of the food process (shopping, preping, serving etc.) as age appropriate.

I loved your story about cooking with your 2 and 3-year-old children. I make cupcakes with my friend's 2-year-old twin boys. I gave them dish towels for aprons (so they looked like me) and they were so in awe of the whole process. Yes I did use healthier oil and omega-3-eggs. It did take a little longer but we all got so much pleasure out of the experience. Isn't that what food is all about, pleasure?

All the best to you!

Rebecca

by Rebecca Scritchfield

February 20, 2008

son who was born picky

I am a busy mom of three wonderful boys (7, 5 and almost 3) My youngest son has always been picky. He refuses to eat any vegetables or fresh fruit. He is otherwise a healthy normal boy. We have tried every bit of advice out there and still he will not put a friut or veggie in his mouth. As everyone knows you cannot force a child to eat something. The only way that he ingests any vegetables is for me to hide them in foods that he will eat. As I have three boys I know that this is just the way he is. I fed him the same things as my other boys and started early with solid foods and new foods. I used to think that parents made their children picky by catering to them but now I know that some children are just born that way. Be careful to judge others until you've walked in their shoes. I do alot of home cooking and baking and try to involve the children in helping in the kitchen. So far none of this has helped. I just hope that someday he will realize that fruit and veggies are good for him and will try them. Until then I will hide as much as I can!!

by monica brown

May 01, 2008

The dreaded Veggie Face

We have all seen it!!

So glad to see people writing about sensory integration disorders and veggies! Being the mother of a son with autism, it can be very difficult to provide the nutrition he needs due to an increased sensitivity to taste, smell, texture and even color! Veggies pretty much cover all these senses. The company I work for makes "veggie enriched" kid favorites to address just this issue. It was founded by a pediatrician who is all too familiar with the issue. 8 out of 10 kids don't get enough veggies in their diet! Dr. Whitney is the first one to tell parents to introduce veggies to kids early and often but if there is a simple refusal or you just don't have time to cook one (because, let's face facts-we're busy moms) try Full Tank Foods -frozen entress that are veggie enriched kid favorites like Macaroni & Cheese, or Pasta & Red Sauce or Pizza Fondue. Kids know veggies are good for them. There is no need to hide them or be deceitful. There are other solutions!

by Full Tank Foods

September 27, 2008

Why Not Both?

Hiding vegtables and eating them outright

It is hard enough to get 5 servings let alone 9! My kids love vegies but they also love traditional meals. So while they have fruit with their waffles, (I make the waffels with pureed vegies and not just a 1/4 of a cup. I simply substitute any liqued with the puree. So vegies in the waffles, fruit and V8 gives me 3 servings. I do this for each meal and I easily incorporate 6 servings per day. Then the carrot sticks, and sweet peper sticks, and celery and fruit all add to it. Its a win win situation.

by Cat