Cook Vegetables, People Will Like You Better

Thank you for writing this article. The study findings and message are great and spot on -- vegetables make a meal look delicious and including them at meal times is absolutely essential to help kids learn to love them and eat them up. However, I have great issue with the opening statement: "Good news, parents: It looks like making your kids eat their vegetables -- no matter how stressful it can be -- has been very good for your image." This is not what the study shows at all. Including the vegetables as part of a balanced meal is evaluated favorably but MAKING kids eat their vegetables does not get kids any closer to liking them. In fact, a compelling body of research shows that MAKING kids eat their vegetables actually causes them to like it less (the thinking goes, if mom is pushing it that hard it must be gross.... and coercing kids to eat something actually makes them like it less). The article you link to help parents get their kids to like and embrace them is spot on, with tips such as including them in preparation, including veggies they like and building from there, having a garden or visiting a farmer's market, making it taste good, etc). But making kids eat their vegetables does not get them to eat them. In fact, many adults can recount stories of being forced to eat foods and now to this day they still refuse to eat.