80% of children aren’t eating enough vegetables. This figure doesn’t surprise me. There are weeks that I know both of mine haven’t eaten nearly enough of them and from my work with families, I know that the majority of them have problems getting their children to eat vegetables.

So, is it OK to sneak them into meals?

I sometimes include grated vegetables into dishes which, once cooked, are hardly noticeable. I will hide blitzed cauliflower or grated celeriac in a macaroni cheese, where it goes undetected even by my husband (until I share on social media that I’ve done it so now he’s on the lookout for what I might have sneaked into the meals!). My children also love my (Use it up) veggie chilli which is jam packed with vegetables and beans neither of them would normally eat, with the exception of the carrot.

You too might decide to hide vegetables in a dish, and there is no denying that this is a great way of getting them in without a fight, but it’s a good idea to also present those same vegetables alongside the dish so that they can try them in their pure form. You might have them raw in a side salad or have the cooked vegetables alongside the meal, including plenty of vegetables they already like in the mix. OK, so your children might turn their noses up and refuse to touch them, but you’ve offered them another opportunity to see and become familiar with these foods, to watch you enjoying them and to learn to try them and eventually enjoy them.