Children typically love sweet food, so it usually isn't too hard to get them to eat fruit (unlike the food-flinging challenges parents face when their kids just won't nibble on a carrot stick). Sometimes, parents can actually struggle with the opposite scenario: Getting their kids to eat something else besides fruit!

Like some stubborn adults, kids can be creatures of habit, and when they like certain foods, they ask for them over and over again and snub their little noses at all alternatives -- even if that new fare is a juicy orange versus the bananas and strawberries they love to eat. Parenting sure is an exercise in patience, and we feel for you. 

Here's a road map (with advice from Kaboose.com medical advisor Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD) to ensuring your children get the variety of fruit and nutrients they need to grow into healthy adults, as well as develop, and function properly. Plus, as part of a balanced diet, fruit will help provide the energy kids need to learn and play.