The Southeastern District Health Department encour south easter
• Be a good role model. Children are influenced by whattheir parents and caregivers do.
View Our Terms of Service
This article was written by Tracy McCulloch， MHE， ofthe Southeastern District Health Department. For more informationon this story， contact Tracy at (208) 239-5250 or visit the SDHDwebsite at www.sdhdidaho.org. To become a n of the SoutheasternDistrict Health Department go to www.cebook.com/sdhdidaho.
• Make it fun， particularly for young children. It only takes afew minutes， a few raisins and banana slices to turn an open-cedpeanut butter sandwich into a piece of kid-pleasing art.
Visit the Fruits and Veggies-More Matters website， and followthe tips below， and you and The Southeastern District Health Department encour south easteryour mily will be on your way tobetter health!
• Dont make it a big deal and keep trying. Very youngchildren often will need to try a new food many times beforeaccepting a new taste. As they get older the Tom Sawyer approachcan be helpful When you are more grown up you may want south eastern health serviceto try(fill in the fruit or vegetable).
The Idaho State Journal invites you to take part in the community conversation. But those who dont play nice may be uninvited. Dont post comments that are off topic， dematory， libelous， obscene， racist， abusive， threatening or an invasion of privacy. We may remove any comment for any reason or no reason. We encourage you to report abuse， but the decision to delete is ours. Commenters have no expectation of privacy and may be held accountable for their comments.
Are you having a hard time eating your fruits andvegetables? Well， you are not alone， since the majority ofAmericans are not getting enough fruits and vegetables in theirdaily diets. According to the 2009 Idaho Behavioral RiskSurveillance System Survey， only 24.6% of Idaho adults eat theamount of fruits and vegetables the government recommends， which isfive or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day. But the goodnews is， there is help. The Produce for Better Health Foundation(PBH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hasa program called Fruits & Veggies More Matters. Theprogram provides suggestions on ways to add more fruits andvegetables to every eating occasion through their interactivewebsite， www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. The website offershealthy recipes， serving ideas， and shopping advice.
• Get out the blender; low t yogurts and canned， frozen orfresh fruits provide an infinite number of combinations for a quickbreakst or snack.
• Make fruits and vegetables available and limit junk food.We all tend to take the path of least resistance. If healthy snacksare available they will eat them.
• Pair new fruits and vegetables with foods a child is alreadyfond of: try celery filled with peanut butter and toped withraisins， add frozen mixed vegetables to canned soups， dip slicedfruit in melted chocolate， serve cut up vegetables with low tranch dressing， and baby spinach to sliced strawberries to a turkeysandwich， and make it the veggie deluxe on pizza night.
• Freeze 100% juice boxes and add them to lunch packs. It willkeep them cold and the juice will be ready to drink by lunchtime.
• Keep it bite-sized. Young children may find a large piece offruit or vegetable daunting. Choose smaller sizes of whole fruitsand vegetables for them or cut the larger ones into manageablepieces.
Comments are opinions of the author only， and do not reflect the opinions or views of Idaho State Journal.
• Make children part of meal planning and preparation.
• Be adventurous; try a new fruit or vegetable once aweek.