The art of persuasion. It's a really important skill that anyone who wants to be successful in this life needs to learn. The dictionary defines persuasion as the "action of getting someone to do or believe something".  It's basically what the entire advertising industry is built upon. Come to think of it, it's what our entire life is built upon.

Think about all the things you had never done until someone persuaded you to try. For example, eating oysters. I don't know a lot of people that would just dive into something that looks like an oyster and eat it without a few words of encouragement or a little more information.

New Zealanders Celebrate Bluff Oyster & Food Festival
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Nowhere in our lives is the ability to persuade others more important than it is to the world of parenting. Granted, parents do and should, have total autonomy over their children and what they learn. But quite often, especially as kids get older, parents have to switch from being authoritarian to being more persuasive in their desires to cultivate certain behaviors.

One area where behaviors learned as a child can affect a person as a grownup is in the area of diet and nutrition. Kids who are allowed to be picky eaters generally grow up facing more issues involving weight and body image than those kids who are encouraged to try a variety of foods.

Ehimetalor Akhere Unuab via Unsplash.com
Ehimetalor Akhere Unuab via Unsplash.com
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Naturally, in the eyes of a child one of the "foods we love to hate" would be vegetables. Parents have been fighting with kids about eating vegetables for decades but now a simple and very subtle form of psychology may have ended the whole " how do I get my kids to eat vegetables" issue.

Tik Tok user @Adamyfam has posted a video of how she gets her children to eat veggies. It's actually quite brilliant and very unassuming. In fact, she is so smooth in this video, the kids don't even realize they're eating veggies until it's almost too late.

The presentation is so simple it's genius. She simply approaches the child while nibbling on a vegetable. She then engages the child in some small talk while nibbling. She then extends the vegetable to the child and low and behold the child not only takes it but begins to eat it.

This scenario happens not only once but twice in the video. Other parents who have seen the video on Tik Tok and tried it at home say they found great success with it too.

@adamyfam also provided this other helpful "hack" for getting kids to eat veggies.

That's right, hide the "good for you stuff" in a smoothie or a popsicle and your kids will never know that they've just fortified their bodies for another busy day.  Speaking of busy, @adamyfam also has one more tip for families that always seem to be on the go and still need to eat healthily.

If only I had known about the "road carrot" when my kids were in their formative years.

If you have any tricks or tips that might help other moms and dads get their kids to eat a little more healthy, we'd love to hear about it. Be sure and share your secrets with us on our station App.

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