Teaching kids to eat a rainbow

Kia Roberts created a chart to help keep track of all the fruits and vegetables her young daughter was eating on a daily basis.

Roberts, a former massage therapist who immerses herself in anything she could learn about nutrition after her daughter was born 10 years ago, took the “eat a rainbow” concept and turned it into a business. The idea is that we should focus on eating the colors of the rainbow because each color group provides a blend of minerals and vitamins that, in its totality, will reduce the risk of chronic disease and help maintain a healthy weight.

“Being a busy parent, I found it much easier to be able to glance at a chart on the fridge to see what colors my daughter was eating and was missing. The best part was my daughter, who was 5 at the time, started taking interest in making sure she was eating a variety of produce...,” Roberts recalled in an email. “Since the chart worked so well for our family, I decided to create this tool for other families, too.”

Roberts, who lives in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, founded Today I Ate a Rainbow five years ago. On her website, www.todayiatearainbow.com, Roberts sells a Rainbow Kit ($18.99), which includes a magnetic charts with colorful magnets, a children’s book on why our bodies need healthy food, a suggested shopping list and an award certificate.

There is also a free downloadable “Today I Tried” chart, a rainbow foods passport and other goodies on the site to engage children.

Tracy Sivak, a mother of two tweens from Natick, Massachusetts, started a similar website called www.raiseyourrainbow.com in November 2013. She sells a magnetic board game for $16.99.

“I’m a professional organizer by trade, so my focus has always been on developing systems to live a healthier life,” Sivak explained in an email. “My goal with creating Raise Your Rainbow was to develop a system to help my family eat more fruits and vegetables and in a variety of colors — which is common nutrition advice and a universal challenge for most families. I knew I had created something special when my kids began playing instantly and starting asking for fruits and vegetables.”

Sivak, who recently completed a master’s level course in nutrition, encourages people to make healthy eating part of their lifestyle. “The environment and habits you create around food at home will influence your children and eventually become their eating style as well,” she said.

“It is never too late to start setting healthy eating habits, but it is definitely a lot easier if you start when your children are very young,” Roberts advised, noting that parents may need to start slow and move up to the full nutritional complement recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Our magnetic tracking chart makes it easy for parents to set healthy habits and turns healthy eating into a fun game for kids.”