The vibrant colors of summer produce encourage the popular advice to “eat the rainbow.” Bursting with life are ruby red peppers, lush green zucchinis, and richly-hued eggplants, all of which nourish our eyes, bodies, and spirits.
Summer meals present a relaxed environment to discover new flavors. For children who tend to be picky eaters, events like watermelon picnics, backyard barbecues, and fruit-picking excursions can offer stress-free opportunities to try new tastes.
Advertisement
Building Strong Bodies
Summer foods are filled with essential nutrients that promote brain, bone, and muscle health.
As the brain is composed of about 50% fat, omega-3 fatty acids from sources like fresh salmon, lake trout, and whitefish are crucial for its development. Plant-based fats from chia seeds and flaxseeds offer similar benefits. Foods rich in choline, such as deviled eggs and edamame salads, support neurotransmitter production, while sun-ripened peaches and peppers contribute vitamin C, vital for brain health.
Children’s physical activity stimulates bone growth, as their muscles pull against their bones, encouraging development at those sites. Nutrient-rich yogurt or berry smoothies, made with soy or dairy, can enhance bone strength, providing antioxidants, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin K (especially if you sneak in some leafy greens). If the hidden spinach gives you away, sugar snap peas can support bone health with their vitamin K, magnesium, protein, and calcium content.
To build and repair muscle, amino acids are essential, with nine being classified as “essential” since our bodies can’t produce them. Summer barbecue favorites like salmon, grass-fed beef, and grains such as quinoa or buckwheat are complete proteins, offering all nine essential amino acids. While beans, chickpeas, and certain grains may lack some essential amino acids, combining these foods can bridge that nutritional gap.
Advertisement
A Dose of Reality
While this nutritional depiction seems idealistic, parents reading this may be nodding in agreement. Although summer’s bounty offers great nutrition, it still needs to actually reach the child’s plate.
Advertisement
Picky Eating: A Phase of Childhood?
Many children go through a stage regarded as “picky.” Several factors contribute to the aversion children often show to parent-selected meals.
Newborns are born with around 10,000 taste buds, while adults may have as few as 2,000. Flavors that seem mild to adults can overwhelm a child’s developing palate. Instinctively, we associate bitterness with toxicity and danger, while a fondness for sweet flavors promotes nursing. A simple kale leaf may not stand a chance against biological instincts!
Jessica Thibault, a holistic nutritionist and former picky eater herself, encourages parents to persist in offering new foods. Children might need to see a food presented 15 times prior to attempting it. Providing opportunities to engage with food can be playful and doesn’t have to occur at the dinner table. Refer to the sidebar “DO Play With Your Food!”
Thibault also suggests varying food presentation to include different forms and textures. If a strong-smelling cauliflower soup proves too much, try serving raw cauliflower, cooking it as wings, or roasting florets. She promotes the idea of pairing familiar foods with new ones to support safe and benign exploration.
Advertisement
What’s Your Superpower?
Children can be motivated by the idea of superfoods—items with particularly impressive nutritional benefits. Summer favorites like berries, cherries, peaches, and watermelon are frequently designated as superfoods due to their high levels of antioxidants and vitamins. Vegetables with lower sugar levels may be less enticing, but positioning them as superfoods might spark curiosity.
Educating kids about how their bodies function and the importance of nutritious foods may encourage them to step outside their comfort zone with food choices. Thibault gently reminds parents to avoid shaming a child’s food rejection, instead viewing it as a matter of independence and choice. Providing child-friendly explanations about how food impacts immune function, infections, brain health, and mood can also render ordinarily unfavorable foods more attractive.
Visual aids can help children recognize which foods support their health best. The notion of “eating the rainbow” was introduced in Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating in 1992, yet it remains a useful concept in encouraging dietary diversity. The “healthy plate” method endorsed in the current Food Guide aids children in visualizing ideal food proportions in their meals.
Finally, proactively addressing challenges to food experimentation can empower children to select these superfoods willingly. Flavors that may be perceived as bitter can be softened by adding salty elements or yeast extracts. Sprinkling nutritional yeast over kale chips or roasted Brussels sprouts can make these items more appealing to kids.
Advertisement
Meeting Nutritional Needs: Calcium, Vitamin D, and Multivitamins
Should children take supplements? Health authorities in Canada recommend that both children and adults supplement with vitamin D if they are not obtaining it through their diet. Due to the limited food sources of this essential vitamin, supplementation is often necessary for kids.
Children with very selective diets may benefit from an age-appropriate multivitamin. Considering the long-term implications of childhood bone growth, calcium supplementation should be discussed for lactose- or dairy-intolerant children or those exhibiting disordered eating habits.
While kids may not share the same enthusiasm for summer’s bounty as adults do, creative and gentle exposure to a variety of foods in a supportive atmosphere can help build a friendly relationship with these nutritional powerhouses.
This article originally appeared in the August 2025 issue of alive magazine.
