Mom Reveals Her Secret Hack to Trick Your Children Into Eating Vegetables

Kids will nearly always kick up a fuss when it comes to eating vegetables, but with a little creativity, moms can make it happen. A mother from Kansas has gone viral on social media after sharing her ingenious hack to make her daughter eat broccoli without complaining.

In a post shared on TikTok in August by Jordan Lowe under the username jlowe.homes, the mom can be seen sprinkling grated broccoli on her daughter's dinner, passing them as "green sprinkles"—and the girl can't have enough of it!

The hilarious post, which has since been liked over 1.2 million times, comes with a caption that says: "I have never felt better lying to a child."

As reported by BBC Science Focus, there's an actual scientific reason why kids don't like vegetables. Our evolutionary ancestors lived alongside numerous toxic plants and we evolved a gene that makes the toxins in these plants taste bitter to discourage us from eating them.

"Children probably evolved a stronger aversion to bitter tastes because they haven't yet learned which plants are dangerous. We learn which plants are safe and lose half of our taste receptors by the time we are 20, making vegetables taste less bitter," BBC Science Focus said.

Lowe, the original poster, tells Newsweek: "I was just cooking dinner for my daughter and I needed to try to sneak some veggies in there. She had just proclaimed that she doesn't like broccoli (although she loved it the night before) and it was the only vegetable in the house.

"She's been on a real 'sprinkle' kick lately, so I figured I would cut the broccoli up really small and see if she'd be interested in 'green sprinkles' instead. To my surprise, it actually worked! Unfortunately, I don't have any more tricks up my sleeve, just figuring out this parenting thing day by day, minute by minute.

"We do a lot of smoothies! My daughter loves picking out what she puts in them. We also do quite a few different pasta recipes with veggies blended into them!"

Lowe also felt compelled to write a disclaimer along with her post: "Video disclaimer has been added !WARNING! To all of the people on the internet who wish to watch this video: (Especially those who have the weird habit of wasting their valuable time leaving aggressive comments on random peoples' posts to [somehow] feel better about yourself?).

"My daughter is VERY loved! My daughter does, in fact, love broccoli AND she knows what it is! My daughter does eat more than chicken nuggets and mac&cheese! She also has two full-time working parents who must work long hours to survive in this capitalist country to be able to afford those better groceries and sometimes that's the quickest and easiest meal! And before you ask, no we cannot afford to leave said capitalist country!

"We do brush our daughter's hair! She just came out with a wig on and has a tender scalp! She hates getting it brushed! And yes, before you ask, she also won't let us cut it! This was just a silly little video that I posted for friends and family! I had no idea it would get this much attention! I'm sorry if it has offended you! I did not make it for you or intend to share it with you!"

She concluded by saying: "Yes, you do not have to watch this video!! No one is forcing you to! And finally, we do not lie to our daughter! (except on major bank holidays).

One user, vm__murphy, commented: "I hate that you had to add disclaimers to such an adorable video! Thank you for the 'sprinkle' idea." And baba_c_a said: "I used to tell my kids that plaque on their teeth were spider eggs, they never argued or fought me to brush their teeth ... they always wanted spider eggs gone lol."

Missjae555 pointed out: "Sprinkle: a small quantity or amount of something scattered over an object or surface. No lies here." And nikoly.oly added: "Told my son green beans were green fries lol."

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