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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Lifestyle
Cally Brooks & Zahra Khaliq

Single dad 'tricks' daughter into eating more fruit and veg with incredible food art

Michael Weeks is a single dad to five-year-old Sylvia Weeks and has found the perfect hack for getting her to try new foods by turning her lunches and snacks into art.

Michael has transformed her meals into characters from her favourite films and TV shows - including Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc and Winnie-the-Pooh - as well as a range of other animals and scenes.

The 38-year-old production manager from Salisbury, Wiltshire, has been creating the eye-catching dishes for the last three years and loves getting his daughter involved in the creation of the plates.

Michael explained: "As I entered into single parenthood, I wanted to try and get my daughter to eat healthier as before, she wanted chicken nuggets every night.

Michael creates dishes that are 'nice to look at' to help his 5 year old daughter eat more fruit (@dadshappymeals / CATERS NEWS)
Helping prep and cut vegetables has encouraged 5 year old Sylvie to try new food (@dadshappymeals / CATERS NEWS)

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"My mum passed away when I was younger and cooking is the main memory I have with her so I wanted Sylvia to have a love for cooking like I did.

"As a single dad, I'm not able to have a typical hobby like going to the gym or going to the pub with my mates so I have to get creative at home and this is something we both enjoy doing together.

Michael's clever plan has proven to be a huge success in getting his 5 year old daughter to eat more fruit and veg (@dadshappymeals / CATERS NEWS)

"By having her helping to prep, cut, and cook the food, it encourages her to try new food because she's proud of what she's created.

"Animal creations are the easiest to do but Sylvia loves anything cute and girly so we often make unicorns or mermaids."

Michael says his food art has been a success as he has been able to encourage Sylvia to try new foods through his creative creations.

He added: "Since going to school, she's developed a dislike for certain foods that her friends may not like so to encourage her to eat it, I'll turn it into something that's nice to look at.

"She's really good at eating fruit and vegetables now and it's been a great way of encouraging her to learn more about food and what herbs go well together.

"I think it's setting her up nicely for the future and I hope it's helping her learn how to cook from a young age.

"If I cook without her, she comes into the kitchen and asks what she can do to help now."

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