Viral sticker trick encourages kids to eat more vegetables

Parents know that getting kids to eat their vegetables can be a struggle. But one dad from Utah may have discovered the perfect trick to encourage children to eat more healthy.

He uses stickers.

In an Instagram video with more than nine million views, Levi Jensen shows how he puts stickers of Disney characters on fruits and vegetables. He then asks his 2-year-old daughter to chose a snack and she selects a red pepper featuring a sticker of Elsa from “Frozen.”

“Food marketers have known this for years and have used this to attract kids to highly processed foods,” Levi noted in the post. “So why not use this to make healthier food options more attractive to our kids?”

While the stickers can help make fruit and vegetables more attractive to kids, it’s not the only trick parents have discovered to get their toddlers to get their fill of healthy veggies. Hiding the vegetables — mashing up cauliflower, for example, so it looks like mashed potatoes — is a popular tactic. And, of course, you can include just about any vegetables in a well-blended smoothie.

One of the best ways to get children to eat better — and to develop better long-term habits — is to involve them in shopping and meal prep.

“Besides having them help out with making dinner, you can also get them to help with meal planning. Let your child choose the vegetables they’d like to help prepare and then take them shopping with you to pick out the produce,” advised Business Insider.