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Gladys Mbawadde, a mother of two is at her wits' end. Her firstborn who is four has a bad appetite. She says, feeding him can be daunting because he hates healthy foods including fruits and vegetables. 

“I have to force him to eat. He loves only diluted milk once a day. He gags and vomits the fruits and other foods,” she says.

Mbawadde adds that her son is sick and whenever she takes him to hospital, doctors recommend feeding him on a balanced diet to boost his immunity yet his appetite doesn’t improve.

Children should get involved in buying and preparing fruits

Twaha Yabata, a nutritionist working with Medical Teams International (MTI) says, parents and caregivers should devise ways of enticing such children to eat fruits and vegetables.

Start by replacing the dull plates and cups with colorful ones because children love bright colours. A beautiful plate will entice a child to eat.

Also, ensure to include different fruits and vegetables in meals regularly so that children get used to them. But also, they should see you eating them because children imitate what they see.

The presentation also matters. You should present the fruits in different forms. For example, if they refuse to eat a sliced mango or pawpaw, smash or blend them. You can also make juice.

Introduce fruits to children

Another way is to hide the fruits in the foods they love. For instance, you can smash avocado with matooke and beans.

Most importantly, Yabata advises parents to be hands-on in feeding such children. Don’t entrust this responsibility to a house help because she might not do the active feeding which involves encouraging and enticing the baby to eat. Ensure to do it yourself or supervise whenever you are around.

Where possible, involve the children in growing or buying and preparing the fruits.  
Meanwhile, Judith Babirye, another nutritionist says fruits and vegetables should be introduced to children according to their age.

For example, from six months, you can give two fruits a day, like a yellow banana, avocado, or mango (smashed) in addition to breast milk.

Those above two years can eat any fruit but limit or avoid limes, lemons, and pineapples.