How Can We Get Kids To Eat Healthy?

When I was a kid, getting me to eat broccoli was akin to stuffing dirt in my mouth. Brussels sprouts? Nuts to that, Mom, I want chocolate ice cream ... with sprinkles. In fact, I'm 29, and I still have to choke down my salad.

But with age comes maturity (such as it is) and I understood the value of eating healthy. But that lesson didn't really take hold until I ballooned up to nearly 240 pounds (I'm down to 225 now, thanks for asking). All of a sudden, asparagus seemed like a better side dish than mozzarella sticks.

So how do you get a five-year-old to come to the same realization. You either have to shelter them from salty snacks and sweet treats completely - my mother used to hide the Devil Dogs, to no avail - or find a creative way to con them into eating healthy. The question is, how to do that.

The likelihood is that unless you keep an eagle eye on your kids, they're feeding their carrots to the dog under the table. So you probably have to stealthily incorporate veggies and other goods into your meals without your kids noticing.

So, mothers, I ask you: how do you get your kids to eat healthy foods, whether by trickery or otherwise?