Should you hide veggies in your kid's food? Experts weigh in.

In 2008, Jessica Seinfeld released Deceptively Delicious, a cookbook teaching parents how to sneak, say, spinach into dishes beloved by children who would sooner hurl a broccoli floret across the room than pop it into their mouth. Homemade ketchup created from carrots? Chocolate chip cookies made with chickpeas? Picky kids were (theoretically) none the wiser, and moms learned to make peace with a steady stream of grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken nuggets and the like, so long as they were furtively packed with veggies.

But when food writer and mom Jean Choi posted on her WhatGreatGrandmaAte Instagram account about making veggie-packed dishes for her little girl without her realizing it, she was accused of giving them "trust issues."

"My mom never hid veggies, she just knew how to cook and make them taste good," one commenter wrote. "Because of her I have an amazing relationship with food.” Choi defended herself against the "idiotic holier-than-thou mom shaming" by sharing that she does also give her daughter vegetables in "their full forms," and that she has found that cooking with her kid helps the tot reconsider dishes she might ordinarily reject. The Korean Paleo author also pointed out that some kids have a sensory food aversion that causes them to avoid certain ingredients if cooked or presented in their traditional forms.

But where do dietitians stand on the practice of slipping veggies into a child's meal?

Jennifer Anderson, registered dietitian and founder of Kids Eat in Color, tells Yahoo Life that doing so might backfire with some kids.

“If your child doesn’t like cauliflower, but they do like quesadillas, you may think it would be great to include a bit of riced cauliflower in with the cheese of the quesadilla," she says. "Picky eaters can often tell extremely small changes, though. When your picky eater finds the cauliflower, they may stop eating quesadillas and even other foods that are round or white as well. Is that risk worth your child eating one tablespoon of cauliflower?”

Leah Hackney, pediatric dietitian and chief operating officer of BLW Meals App, is also wary of the practice.

“In most cases I do not recommend 'sneaking' vegetables, especially if your child is extremely picky," Hackney says. Like Anderson, she believes that tricking a kid into eating veggies "can break trust with the child and actually cause them to reject the food further, or in the future even reject some of their favorites that they previously ate."

But there are ways parents can try, in a more up-front manner, to help their kids become more comfortable with vegetables.

Use neutral language around food

Hackney recommends talking to children about vegetables in a neutral and educational way.

“This looks like using developmentally appropriate language to describe them in neutral terms based on their color and sensory properties such as flavor, texture, sound etc.,” she explains. “The key to doing this successfully is to keep it educational, without the pressure to try it, and without adding moral value to foods.”

Parents may also want to educate their kids about the benefits of vegetables to help promote a better understanding. “For younger children, you can say something like: peas are green, and green foods can help us fight off sicknesses,” suggests Veronica La Marca, a registered dietitian for picky eating kids.

Let kids play with their food

New foods can be intimidating, especially for those picky eaters. One way parents can ease their kid into a new food exposure is by letting them help out in the kitchen, with no pressure to actually eat the dish they are helping to make.

“If there's a vegetable your child doesn't enjoy, you need to first build up that trust with that vegetable through curiosity,” says Alexandra Turnbull, registered dietitian and founder of The Family Nutritionist. “You can do this by having them play with it, by stacking it, making a picture out of it, feeding you it, scooping it onto your plate.”

Once the child becomes more comfortable, there’s a better chance that they’ll take a bite to see if they like it or not.

Practice patience

It can be frustrating when a kid won’t eat so much as bite of the carrot a parent has tried preparing a dozen different ways. Progress may happen, but it's unlikely to happen overnight. Stick with it

“Kids can learn to like vegetables over time," says Turnbull. "It can take eight or more tries — or ... [even] years of trying — before they can honestly know if they like a food or not. Just because they didn't like it one time, doesn't mean they won't like it the next, especially if it's prepared differently.”

Don't be afraid to ask for help

Parents who haven't seen progress with their child's eating habits or who have concerns about their diet may want to consult with a registered dietitian and nutritionist for some professional advice. Children with sensory needs or a condition, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, that impacts their aversion to certain foods, will typically require professional support.

“For children with sensory issues, it is best to make sure they are seen by a multidisciplinary feeding team,” says Hackney. “For example, mealtimes may need to be shorter and more frequent. Children with sensory issues such as ARFID [avoidant restrictive food intake disorder] or a pediatric feeding disorder can slowly build upon the foods they are currently eating, but it takes time and patience. It is also important to take into account each child’s individual sensory needs and make the experiences positive for future eating progress.”

Don't judge how other parents feed their kid

It's OK to disagree about something like secretly grating cauliflower into a child's beloved Velveeta mac and cheese without resorting to the "mom shaming" Choi spoke out against.

“We truly do not know what another parent has or hasn’t tried, or what they are navigating regarding feeding and nutrition,” says Hackney. “I see so much judgment online where parents look at what another person packed in their child’s lunch and think I can’t believe they packed that. But on the flip side, what if that was what helped that child feel comfortable eating at all while at school? What if they only have those foods for lunch, and it is a special occasion? Or what if it is a culturally significant food or one that families value being able to purchase or provide as a sense of status? What if that food was the battle they decided not to pick that day before school? There’s so much more than goes into our food and nutrition choices daily — the invisible mental load of it is endless! What works for one family may not work for another.”

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