8 tricks nutritionists use to ge

2. Have someone else talk to them about nutrition

“If you become overly involved, it’s likely to backfire,” Ansel says. She’s found that teens tend to do better when they hear information about eating well from someone outside the family. “When my kids went to the doctor, they tended to latch onto that information more than when I said it,” she says. “When I said it, there was a lot of eye-rolling.”

3. Load them up on veggies when you can

Teens are busy and it’s not always easy to have them eat at home, but Cassetty recommends doing your best to have healthy family meals when possible. She says her family eats meals together on “most nights” and she makes it a point to have her son eat “at least” two cups of vegetables at those dinners. “That keeps his veggie-eating consistent, which is a top healthy habit,” she says. “Plus, I know veggies are sorely lacking in his other meals so I use our family dinners as an opportunity to boost his intake.”