Rising to the Family Challenge

This challenge isn't designed to help you fit into a bikini. It won't turn your family into competitive athletes. But it will produce small, gradual and achievable changes, which research suggests help build a foundation for more long-lasting healthy habits.

(Find additional information and printable forms to track your progress at http://www.washingtonpost.com/leanplateclub , where you can also log your family's activity online and see how it compares with others taking the challenge. Also, see today's KidsPost for tips on how elementary-school students are increasing their activity.)

The activity challenge for this week: Get your family's gear in order (workout clothes, comfortable shoes, etc.) and take a five-minute walk together. That's a necessary first step toward a more active life together.

The eating challenge is to meet that timeless mandate: More fruit and vegetables. Here are some tactics to help meet that goal no matter what your age or whether you're a family of one or 10:

Provide plenty of "hidden" vegetables . Teens participating in focus groups told University of Minnesota researchers they welcomed foods with hidden vegetables. Favorite foods that don't seem like vegetables include salsa, guacamole, hummus and baba ghanouj. Spaghetti sauce, vegetable stir-fries, bean burritos and soups such as minestrone, tomato and split pea are other options. Pumpkin pie -- make it crustless in small, individual containers -- also counts as a veggie. Baked sweet potato "fries" are another healthy choice.

Exploit hungry moments. Most kids are ravenous after school, "so there's a really high chance that they will eat fruit and vegetables," says Neumark-Sztainer, who is a mother of four. Dinner preparation is another high-appetite opportunity. So have fresh baby carrots, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes and other veggies ready with low-fat dip. Also, place fruit and vegetables in strategic places where hungry kids scrounging for food are most likely to find them: on the kitchen counter and washed and cut up in bags at eye level in the front of the refrigerator. Or have jars of dried fruit available where kids are likely to grab and go.

Serve the whole fruit, not the juice. Fruit provides more fiber and fewer calories than juice. In February, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advised delaying introduction of 100 percent juice until babies are at least 6 months of age. Then serve it only from a cup, not a bottle (to reduce dental problems). The AAP also recommended limiting juice to four to six ounces per day for children ages 1 to 6 and eight to 12 ounces for those aged 7 to 18.

Smart juice option: orange juice. Four ounces provides about a day's worth of vitamin C and is rich in potassium.

Choose calcium-fortified and you add even more nutritional punch. Another good option: vegetable juice, which isn't sweetened and is low in calories, although it can be high in sodium. (For more on fruit and vegetable servings, see http://www.washingtonpost.com/leanplateclub .)

Try 10. That's the average number of times a child needs to try a new food before liking it. "You can't expect kids to like new foods right away," Story says. So keep offering fruit and vegetables even if your child seems uninterested. "Familiarity should increase their intake," adds Neumark-Sztainer.

Offer options . When Story's three sons were young, she discovered that if she provided two or three vegetables at dinner, there was a higher likelihood that at least some would be eaten. "That way, if they don't eat the broccoli, who cares?" she says.

Resist the temptation to bargain. "Eat your vegetable and you can have dessert" just puts you in a power struggle over food. The AAP advises that parents choose the time to eat and what is served, but notes that "children then can choose what to consume." And, yes, fruit makes a great dessert. ·

Join the Lean Plate Club Web chat today from 1 to 2 p.m. at www.washingtonpost.com/leanplateclub. Meet Sally Squires on Saturday, April 29, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW, where she'll speak and sign copies of "Secrets of the Lean Plate Club" (St. Martin's Press). Space is limited. RSVP to 202-334-7969.