Chips Before Carrots, For 1/3 of Toddlers

If you’re losing in the battle of the wills to get your toddler to eat vegetables, you are not alone. According to new research, a third of toddlers try chips before carrots and almost half have munched on crisps before eating greens, such as cabbage.

The new nationwide survey of parents of under-fives has revealed that seven in ten parents admit their kids do not get enough greens in their diet, with almost one in five eating a burger before they had even tasted broccoli and a similar number sampling pizza before peas.

In the battles of fresh vegetables over convenience foods, it is clear who is winning. It seems 88 percent of children have eaten sausages, 87 percent have devoured fish fingers and 85 percent have enjoyed chicken nuggets. Less than half of kids have tried kale, whilst around half have eaten mange tout. Courgettes fare slightly better with 61 percent of kids having consumed this popular veg.

Seven out of ten (69 percent) of the 1,507 parents who were questioned for the survey by Ella’s Kitchen said they are concerned their children are not eating enough vegetables. A staggering 46 percent of parents who are weaning their children admit their children are already not getting enough vegetables. 80 percent of parents admitted they found the weaning stage very stressful, in terms of making sure their kids got the nutrients they needed. 

Mark Cuddigan, CEO Ella’s Kitchen says: “We know that introducing a variety of vegetables early during weaning, helps little ones learn how to love new veggie tastes, but we also know it’s not always an easy task – shown by the research.

“It can take up to eight tries for little ones’ tiny taste buds to learn to accept the taste of all types of veg, so we encourage parents to keep trying.  It’s never too late to grow a little veg lover.”

We all have imaginative ways to get our kids to eat vegetables, with as many as 38 percent of parents telling little fibs like the fact that carrots make you see in the dark and 28 percent have pretended that veggies aren’t veg. Games like the classic technique of pretending the fork/spoon is an airplane or train and playing peekaboo are also popular.

Ella’s Kitchen is aiming to improve children’s lives through developing healthy relationships with food are creating the world’s first pop-up Pram Drive Thru experience in London for parents and their little ones. Visitors can expect a living-veg wall to offer a sensory experience and many other interactive activities.

*Ella’s Kitchen have created the Pram Drive Thru, giving away loads of their delicious and convenient veggie pouches to help parents feed their little ones delicious, nutritious food, fast. For free tickets parents can go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ellas-kitchen-pram-drive-thru-pop-up-tickets-74258143105