Healthy Kids Mediterranean-style, and Cookies, of Course!

© 2008 Flickr user jessicafm

Stealthily sneaking veggies into kids' food is definitely controversial. Some parents are big fans of the maneuver, figuring that if junior shuns broccoli and other healthy stuff, it's better to feed it to him on the down low, hidden in pasta sauce or cupcakes. Others are horrified by the idea of resorting to trickery to get their offspring to eat a balanced diet, and prefer patiently exposing their kids to spinach over and over again with the hope that eventually, it'll get eaten and enjoyed. (Research, by the way, indicates that the latter approach is a sound one. Between teaching kids to cook and working with them as a dietitian, that's my philosophy too.)

It's true that toddlers will often go through a phase when they seem to spit out virtually every new food presented to them. But regarding new foods with suspicion may stem from an inborn protective instinct against accidentally eating something dangerous. Research indicates that babies need to see a food at least 10 times before they'll accept it, and that's really fine. Trouble is, most parents only present new foods 3 to 5 times before deciding that the cause is hopeless. Worse yet, when the child is older and expresses interest in those foods, lots of parents will actually say things like "Oh, no, you don't (or won't) like that," or "that's too spicy," or "that's not kid food."

Given the chance, kids will try new foods -- especially if they get to help pick or prepare them. These are all lessons from this year's Mediterranean Diet Conference, where Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss, aka the Meal Makeover Moms were among the presenters. They suggest making healthy eating accessible with palate-expanding, nutrient-boosting changes to familiar kid-friendly recipes. Today's cookie exchange recipe is a great example, with the addition of pumpkin pie spice and nutritious pumpkin.