By far, one of the most frequent challenges moms have when feeding their children is getting them to eat vegetables. And, since we know as moms how important vegetables are to overall health, it's a constant source of low-level (and sometimes high-level) stress for many moms. Often I hear moms saying, "I give him a multi-vitamin since he won't even touch vegetables." or some variation of that statement. The problem is, even if the multi-vitamin is of great quality, you just can't replicate all the benefits of eating the real veggies. Scientists are finding more and more out about the important phytonutrients - which result in all those gorgeous colors - and how they impact our health in zillions of ways. So, the trick for us moms is to find ways to help our kids eat, and hopefully even enjoy, vegetables. In talking with moms over the years individually and through my classes, I have met some who say their children eat and even love vegetables. They often don't understand why so many kids resist them. Based on talking with all these moms and my own personal experiences with our three children, some common threads running through families whose children willingly eat vegetables include:

Expectations: "It's the way we eat." Vegetables are abundant in the house and are eaten for snacks and meals, and this is modeled by parents every day who visibly enjoy eating a variety of vegetables.

Consistency: Parents stay calm and consistent when children resist or tantrum. There is some kind of rule about eating vegetables and once the kids realize mom and dad mean it, they eventually stop resisting or battling.

Equality: Vegetables get treated like other foods. They aren't made into the 'yucky' food you have to eat before getting the 'good' stuff like fruit or dessert.

Experiences: The children are involved in the cooking and shopping, as well as preparation of food.

Conversations: The families eat together and have real conversations about food - the tastes, the colors, the shapes, the smells, the textures.

Education: The parents of kids who eat vegetables spend time educating kids through books, talk, movies, and more about how what we eat directly affects our health, sports performance, learning ability and appearance.

Encouragement: Parents invite kids to be adventurous eaters and celebrate when new foods are tried, whether it is perceived as healthy or not.

Prioritizing: These parents prioritize health, knowing how important it is to have a happy life. They schedule time to cook and to pack healthy meals and snacks.

Responsibility: The parents view taking care of our bodies through eating well, being active and other means as a responsibility that comes along with the opportunity we have to be and stay healthy.

Do the families I've met over the years all do each of these things everyday? No. Do I do most of these things consistently? No. What happens is that in families whose kids will eat vegetables, some of these are happening daily and others go in streaks. Just like everything in parenting, it takes time and being consistent. This can definitely be a challenge, especially given the busy lives we lead. If you want your kids to eat more vegetables, choose one or two of the above areas and make a plan for yourself and be consistent, even when it is hard and you are exhausted, and I remember when I had a 3 ½ year old and 1 year old twins what it felt like to be exhausted by all of this. Hold in your mind a vision of your healthy children enjoying vegetables each day and stay focused on that vision as you keep trying to figure out what will work for your family.