Joe Wicks: Expert’s controversial tip to get your kids eating their veggies | Exclusive Interview

Joe Wicks is not just a fitness guru but also a father of four, and knows all too well the challenge it can be to get kids to eat their veggies.

The Body Coach founder says there are a few things parents can do to make vegetables more enticing for their children to eat, including one more controversial idea.

“Let them work up an appetite,” Wicks tells 9honey of snacking culture.

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“Don’t give your child, when they get home from school, a packet biscuits or a bag of crisps or some popcorn, because that just fills their tummy up.

“By the time you have the meal, a couple hours later, they’re not hungry.

“Let them work up an appetite and when you put something new in there in front of them on the table, they are 90 per cent more likely to try it and eat it.

“This is the most common mistake that parents make, this thing of, ‘Well, kids eat snacks’, and it’s just what we give them. It’s because marketing’s told us that, but they don’t need that.”

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The 39-year-old, who came to prominence in 2020 for his home workouts during the pandemic and this week was a featured speaker at SXSW London, says getting kids more involved in the dinner process also helps.

“My kids will not eat a boiled Brussels sprout or a boiled bit of broccoli or boiled cauliflower,” Wicks tells 9honey.

“But when you roast them in the oven with some olive oil, with some Cajun [spices] or some cumin and paprika, they go into crispy, delicious, completely different vegetables.

“So I think baking and roasting vegetables is really important.

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“Also, getting [kids] involved in the kitchen. Get them to help choose the meal you’re going to make, pick the ingredients and make it together.

“You wouldn’t believe how much that helps.”

Wicks regularly practices what he preaches, sharing videos on social media showing him in the kitchen with his little ones as they make meals together.

“I’m always trying to remain at the forefront of people’s minds when they’re thinking about health and fitness, and be a positive voice on social media, be a positive role model around parenting and getting the kids eating well,” he tells 9honey.

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“It’s just things I can’t help but share because I’m living this and doing it with my kids.

“I see how much it affects them, or I see how much I can change my life or my family’s through diet and exercise, [so] of course, you naturally want to share that.”

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