Do you remember hiding your veggies under a turned over half of gem squash as a child? Your mom caught you out, didn't she? Yip, getting children to eat their fruit and veggies is the ongoing quest of most moms and this struggle is not in vain.

The 5-a-day For Better health Trust is a non-profit organisation that encourages and educates South Africans to eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. CEO and Registered Dietician, Jane Badham says a growing body of research points to early childhood as a critical period for the development of healthy eating habits.

Habits we learn in childhood undoubtedly affect our health as we grow older.

Training children's taste buds to get used to vegetables from an early age helps them considerably to develop a healthy relationship with nutritious food as they grow older.

  • Woolworths is making it easy for moms with their new range of fresh baby food. It’s pure fruit and vegetables, mashed up to the right consistency, nothing added. It’s as fresh as you would make it at home and you’re teaching your baby the taste of real butternut, real pear and real banana (some of which are even organic). So when you introduce a piece of banana one day, the child can relate to the taste and only have the consistency to adapt to.

  • www.olli.co.za is in the process of developing South Africa’s first fully organic baby food. It offers all the goodness of fresh fruit and vegetables as Mother Nature intended, without all the pesticides and chemicals that have been linked to lifestyle diseases.

  • It’s not always wise to merely trust the products on the supermarket shelf. Moms need to read food labels. After all, mom’s food choices can affect the rest of a child’s life.

    • When it comes to those older fusspots, Juliet Fearnhead, Pick ‘n Pay Resident Dietitian and Health Hotline Manager has some clever ideas to get kids to eat the healthy food on their plates:

  • Peel, pre-cut and cling-wrap fruit into manageable pieces for lunchboxes.

  • Fruit kebabs are fun — use a variety of colourful fruit such as melon, strawberries, pineapple and kiwi fruit.

  • Blend fruit into a smoothie by whizzing up a banana with some frozen mixed berries and a dollop of Yoghurt — a nutritious drink for children of all ages.

  • Children tend to enjoy raw vegetables, such as carrots or cucumber, particularly when supplied with a favourite dip, such as hummus or guacamole.

  • Disguise vegetables in food — add pureed carrots to tomato-based pasta sauces and finely chop a variety of vegetables and hide them in home-baked pizzas, soups, mince dishes and even their favourite casseroles.

  • Use fruit as a garnish for your dinner dishes and add chopped up fruit to jelly for a healthier dessert.

  • At mealtimes, draw a picture out of fruit and vegetables for the younger children — use broccoli for trees, carrots and celery for flowers, cauliflower for clouds and a yellow squash for the sun. When it’s done, eat your masterpiece and get your 5-a-day!

  • Make up a star-chart to encourage the younger children to get their 5-a-day and give them a star for each portion of fruit or vegetables they eat — this is a winning formula in most homes!

  • Vegetable kebabs, baked banana in their skins and sweetcorn on the cob are a treat for braais.

    • Manifesting healthy habits in the development stages means your children will be more likely to look past high fat and sugar-rich snacks as adults and make sure they get their recommended five fruits and vegetables a day.