I have 3 little girls, ages 6 4 and 2. All three of them love fruit and vegetables. They rarely eat junk food, they would rather have fruit than chocolate, and theres not much they don't like.

The main thing you can do to get your child to eat vegetables is to sit down with your child when you eat dinner and for everyone to be eating the same thing. Don't draw attention to any particular food on the plate unless your child does. If they ask what something is, tell them, discuss it, and encourage them to have a taste. Don't push it, just suggest it as if its fun.

It helps if your child sees you enjoying the food too, they might prefer to try a sample from your plate rather than their own, and you should let them if it gets them eating what you want them to.

I find it helps to give the child a very small portion of everything so that if they eat everything on the plate they would still be hungry. Using positive language, tell them if they eat everything up nicely they can have a second helping of whatever they like the most. Encourage them with anything they don't want to eat. "Just eat that one peice of carrot then you can have more of something else, what a good girl/boy, whatever.

Try to keep sweet foods to a minimum and offer them as rewards when your child has eaten what you wanted them to. Don't emphasise that the reward is for eating vegetables, as soon as they catch on they are likely to refuse next time.

If you still have no luck, try hiding veges in their favourite foods. My mum used to mash cauliflower in with the potatoes, you can hide grated carrot in spaghetti bolognese, be creative. Children can be very difficult at times, but you can always outsmart them if you persevere, and above all, try not to make a big thing out of it.

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