A few tips on how to get the family to eat fruits, veggies

The trick to getting a family to eat more fruits and vegetables is making food more fun and an easy-to-prepare part of daily meals.

"Including a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks can help crowd out calorie-dense foods that provide too many calories and too few nutrients. That's a big step forward in the fight against obesity," said Elizabeth Pivonka, president of the Produce for Better Health Foundation.

Here are some tips on how to do that:

+Include a tray of fresh and marinated vegetables with lowfat dips as an appetizer.

+Start the meal with a hearty broth-based vegetable soup.

+Prepare a bowl of fresh fruit and keep it filled throughout the day for snacks.

+Increase the amount of vegetables and fruits in stuffing recipes. Use apples, pears, mushrooms, celery, onions or peppers.

+Bake sliced sweet potatoes with orange segments or apple slices and a little orange juice, brown sugar and a dab of butter.

+Prepare a spinach salad as a side dish. It can be made easily with ready-to-serve baby spinach, sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion and a few toasted walnuts.

+Add a fruit salad with a scoop of sherbet to dessert menus. Frozen berries, cherries, melon balls and peaches make easy additions to fresh fruits. A squeeze of lemon or orange juice keeps colors bright.

For more healthyeating advice and recipes, visit www.5aday.org.

This story is provided by State Point Media.