1. Eat with the Seasons

Children are discriminating eaters.  They know when a strawberry is not quite ripe or a carrot is past its prime.  Produce that is in season is better tasting, more nutritious and less expensive than the stuff that's shipped in from far away.  Giving children the best tasting produce possible will increase the odds that they'll eat and enjoy it - and want to eat more!

2. Provide Easy Access

Keep fresh, organic fruits and vegetables in the house.  Cut up some melon into cubes and keep it in a covered bowl in the fridge.  Slice up some carrots and cucumbers so you can easily slip them into sandwiches.  Saute some spinach so you can add it to a burrito or quesadilla.  It's easier to eat fruits and veggies if they're there and you don't have to think about them too much.

3. Shop with Your Child

Bring your children grocery shopping and encourage them to choose a new fruit or vegetable each time.  Walk through the aisles and make a game of finding fruits and vegetables in all the colors of the rainbow - different colored ones contain different nutrients - so try to eat the rainbow, too.  And be sure to taste any samples that are being given out.

4. Cook Together

Get your child involved in healthy eating from the start.  Let them help you choose recipes and then put them to work.  Preschool children can tear up lettuce leaves, pull hebs off the stem and cut soft foods (like bananas) with a spoon.  Older children can knead pizza dough, measure ingredients and wash vegetables.  To give your older children more experience in the kitchen, send them to a cooking class for kids.

5. Plant a Garden or Visit a Local Farm

A garden connects children to Nature, teaches them where food comes from and how it grows.  If you don't have space for a garden, try container gardening or visit a local farm.

6. Be a Good Role Model

Children will learn far more from what you do than what you say.  If your children see you eating and enjoying nutritious food, they will be more likely to do so.  It is confusing to children to tell them to eat fruits and vegetables if they see you eating junk food.

7. Keep Trying

If your child doesn't like a new food the first time, don't give up.  Children may need ten or more times of examining and testing new foods before actually eating and enjoying them.  Just be sure to include something in the meals that you know your child likes.

8. Think Small

Little hands need small morsels to grab on to.  Be sure to cut your child's food into bite-sized pieces, and keep in mind that bite-sized for a child's mouth is not the same as bite-sized for your.  Parents are often amazed at the difference small bites make in how their children eat.

9. Dip It!

Dunk vegetables like cucumbers, bell peppers, squash, carrots and broccoli in a creamy dip or dressing.  Bananas, peaches, berries and other fruits can be dipped in yogurt, and apples are great with almond butter.

10. Last Resort: Sneak Them In

If worst comes to worst, sneak veggies and fruits in to your children's diet.  Pureed vegetables can go in pasta sauce and soup, sauteed greens can go on pizza, mashed bananas can go into muffins, and lots of fresh or frozen fruit can be blended with yogurt for a nutritious smoothie.

A diet filled with fruit and vegetables instead of unhealthy fats and refined foods, combined with increased exercise, can reduce the risk of cancer by at least 30 percent - so make sure your whole family eats those fruits and veggies!