I find it tough to give my kids a rationale about why they should eat fruits and vegetables. They're just not interested. Can you help me find way to explain their nutritional importance to children?

Thank you for sending in such a great question.

It's no easy task to explain the importance of good nutrition to children in a way that motivates them to eat well.

Through my experience as a nutrition education teacher and parent, I have found a few tactics that work:

• Explain the connection between nutrition and health using concepts they can see or feel.

I like to point out that the vitamins in fruits and vegetables make us "glow." They make our hair shiny, our eyes bright, and our cheeks rosy. They also help us see clearly and build strong bones, and they give us energy to run and play.

• Use color.

Explain that most leafy green (for example: spinach, kale, collards) and dark orange fruits and vegetables (acorn squash, papaya, cantaloupe) give us healthy skin and good eyesight.

That's a simple way of saying that they contain beta carotin, which our bodies translate into Vitamin A.

• Refer to the alphabet.

Beans, bok choy, and bell peppers are all great sources of vitamin B. And Vitamin B helps you manufacture blood cells.

Citrus fruits, cauliflower, and red cabbage are great sources of Vitaminc C, which keeps you from getting colds.

Lynn Fredericks develops food education programs for families nationwide. She is a single mom and the author of COOKING TIME IS FAMILY TIME. She lives in New York with her two sons.