As every parent knows, toddlers can be fussy about trying new foods. Evolution has actually pre-programmed them this way, it's a survival mechanism to stop little ones eating something that could be poisonous. Nowadays this brings a new danger. If little-ones don't develop a taste for healthy foods it can set the scene for a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits.
But Fruit Bowl, the team who make fruit fun to eat, has come to the rescue with two new fruit snacks from new Little Fruit Bowl, specially designed to tempt toddlers to develop a taste for healthy fruit flavours.
Loved and receiving a stamp of approval from 6,000 independent mums, Little Fruit Bowl's Fruit Sticks and Fruity Fingers include five times the weight in fruit; contain no added sugar, artificial colours or flavours. Both Little Fruit Bowl's Fruity Fingers and Fruit Sticks are made from fruit puree and fruit juice. Fruit Sticks also contain a cereal.
Encourage your toddler to eat fruit
Little Fruit Bowl's Fruity Fingers are available in four great flavours, apple, banana, strawberry and tomato, while Fruit Sticks come in three terrific taste treats, apple, raspberry, carrot and orange, mixed with crunchy cereal pieces. As a result, they provide a great way to get fruit and vegetables into little ones.
Mum of two, award winning dietitian and dietary advisor to Fruit Bowl, Dr Carrie Ruxton notes "Young children are naturally reluctant to try something new, but Little Fruit Bowl's Fruit Sticks and Fruity Fingers are a great way to introduce fruit flavours and lay the foundations for healthy eating."
A new study suggests that parents could do with some help as many remain puzzled by how much fruit and vegetables we should be eating.
A survey for Fruit Bowl found that almost a third (31%) thought it was fine for youngsters to eat fewer than five servings of fruit or vegetables a day and only a quarter (23%) could name all the different varieties of fruit and vegetables that count towards the dietary target.
Commenting on the research further from Fruit Bowl, Dr Carrie Ruxton notes "This same research poll also found that that three out of four parents (77%) say their children get moody when their energy levels slump which many of us parents talk about. Two out of five (38%) say hunger pangs trigger tantrums and a similar number (41%) say they are a signal for stubbornness and a refusal to comply with requests. I know exactly what this feels like as a parent and as a result finding the right, healthy snack food is vital. So using fruit and vegetable bites are vital for bridging these hunger gaps in between those breakfast and lunch meal times."
"However, it's not so easy always to tempt little ones with fruit and vegetable options and that's where Little Fruit Bowl's Fruity Fingers and Fruit Sticks provide parents with another healthy and nutritious food choice to help avoid these hunger pangs."
The Fruit Bowl survey also revealed that strawberries are a little one's favourite fruit with 38% of parents putting them in first place, closely followed by bananas 37% and apples 31%. Carrots come tops when it comes to veg (44%) followed by peas (32%), sweet corn 30% and surprise star broccoli 28%. Perhaps predictably, sprouts were top of the give-it-a-miss list (30%) list.
A pack of Fruity Fingers retails at 60p. A pack of Fruit Sticks retails at 60p. Fruity Fingers and Fruit Sticks are available from Tesco's.