If in doubt, cheat
Sometimes the best option is the easiest. So go on, cheat. By which we mean, give the kids a garden full of fruit and veg without them really knowing. So instead of giving them a boring piece of fruit, zap up bananas, strawberries, blueberries, carrots and pretty much anything else into delicious, nutritious smoothies.
Instead of making them eat a portion of yukky dry carrots, disguise vegetables in hearty, warming stews or soups and tasty pasta sauces. Make sure the kids know it's chicken stew or beef Bolognese. Emphasise the bits you know they love, and they'll gobble up the veg without even thinking.
And according to Cancer Research, you should go with what the kids already like. If they love pizza, add vegetables to the topping. If they live on sandwiches, stick some salad in with the ham, cheese or tuna.
The NHS also recommends putting healthy snacks like dried fruit or tangerines in places where you'd normally keep biscuits or cakes. That way, hungry kids in a rush might shovel in a handful of whatever they come across first. If that's a few sweet dried apricots, they'll have gobbled up one portion of their daily five in the blink of an eye.
Sweet Treats
Kids love sweets - that's half the problem, of course - so use it to your advantage. Choose fruits that are sweet-sized and sweet tasting, like grapes and strawberries. If your kids just won't eat fruit on its own, mix it into their favourite jelly or chop it into cereal.
And vegetables aren't just the ones kids tend to hate, like broccoli, cabbage and sprouts (though if you can get some a few of those into them, so much the better). Some salad and vegetable staples are naturally sweet and tend to be most popular with kids. Think about sweetcorn, peppers, cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes.
Funnily enough, kids who hate cooked veg often like it raw, especially crunchy sweet vegetables like carrots and peppers. They're a lot more fun than soggy greens, and they haven't had any of their nutrients cooked away.
Lead by Example
Perhaps the best thing you can do for your kids is eat plenty of fruit and veg yourself, and not just because you'll feel healthy enough to take them to the park for a kick about or a bike ride. Even older kids learn from their parents, so let them see you crunching into an apple or piling your plate with greens at every opportunity.
They'll never admit to copying you, of course, but you might find that a little mouse has been at the fruit bowl when you weren't looking. And make sure fruit, vegetables or salad are part of every meal, preferably in several alternatives. Kids love to choose - so let them choose between good things.
But don't force them to eat everything - it might produce negative associations and lead to a lifetime of salad dodging. If they're proving resistant to everything you put in front of them, let them choose the fruit and veg they want next time you're in the supermarket. That way, at least they can't say they don't like it.
