Your child's 'five a day'

Tips for getting five-a-day into your child's diet
Not all fruits or veg need to feel like 'worthy eating'. You may have a dislike of carrots which goes back to your own childhood of over-boiled school dinner veg, but baby carrots and good fresh British carrots can be light and sweet to eat. Serve them raw cut into small sticks or chop them up and steam them to retain the sweet flavour.

Use the colour and shapes of fruit and veg to make the plates look appetising. Create food faces on a plate. Grapes or slices of cucumber can become eyes or a nose, a slice of apple could be ears or a smiley mouth. Or simply serve small amounts of a number of vegetables instead of a huge bowl of broccoli: sweetcorn, peas and carrots in a mixed bowl of cooked vegetables can have a great visual impact and look more fun to eat.

Vary your choices. Even if your child adores one kind of fruit or veg, the nutrional benefits of keeping it varied are important. Additionally, having a change means your child won't get bored. It is reasonable to expect that small children will be in love with a food and then completely go off it, but if this is the case with a once-loved vegetable offer small portions of it every now and again to see if it has made a return to your child's eating preferences!

If your child finds oranges and apples too strong to taste, try much sweeter fruits that are easy to eat: ripe mango (try to avoid the pale, woody chunks as these will put your child off), bananas, papaya and pineapple.

Instead of just plonking some veg on a plate, try to think of new ways of presenting it.
My son loved a 'platter' before bedtime, which was really just a couple of slices of cheese, and some sliced cucumber, a few cherry tomatoes and some grapes. But in that context, it felt like his special snack.
Offer sticks of fruit or veg with a little creamy dip, or add some orange slices in a drink.

Try to freshly cut fruit and veg just before serving as that retains more of the goodness, as does steaming rather than boiling.

Make smoothies or fresh fruit milkshakes as puddings or a summer treat drink. Get your child to help prepare them and make the experience fun.

Try a day out at a 'pick your own' fruit farm, or if you have garden space, try planting something easy to care for like raspberries or green beans. A toddler will love getting involved, and gain a sense of the wonder of how fruit and veg grow. Even if you just grow a plate of cress in your kitchen!

Eat well yourself! Children not only want to be like grown ups, they are going to follow your lead. When you are hungry, reach for the fruit bowl rather than the crisp or biscuit tin!

Fruit for babies
Don't worry about getting five a day into a baby - they have tiny tummies! However, the basics of first foods for weaning lend themselves to making simple fruit and vegetable purees which are easy to make and your child will enjoy them.
Avoid strawberries for the first year, and if possible, try to give organic foods where you can.