As many parents will attest, getting your kids to eat a wide variety of fruit and vegetables can be a challenge.

Gone are the days of 'You're not leaving the table until your plate is clean'. Now, dietitians and nutritionists recommend parents take a different, some may say kinder approach.

Recommendations include, introducing a rainbow of colours' to your child's diet and not to be discouraged if they reject something new first time around. It can take between 5 to 10 attempts before a child will eat a new fruit or vegetable. 

Creativity can also be the key, cooking a stir fry?  Why not use chopsticks?  Perhaps make some pasta together and use vegetable juice to colour your dough. Creativity in the kitchen and at meal times is a great way to show children that meals do not have to follow the same routine.

University of Wollongong Senior Lecturer Yasmine Probst and PhD candidate Ruth Crowe have written an excellent article in The Conversation with ideas to help parents encourage their children to eat the rainbow.