It was so easy when they were little (and no, I didn't realize it then). Pop open a jar of Gerber's green mush, make airplane noises, and you could surprise a spoonful or three in their mouths before their taste buds caught up.

Now? Not so much. Now my kids insist that a serving of French fries counts as a vegetable. And when you add ketchup? Well, you've got a complete meal.

It's sad (but also reassuring) to find that I’m not alone in this struggle.  A recent Center for Disease Control study indicates that 9 out of 10 teens are short on their daily servings of fruit and vegetables.  I’m happy to report that I’ve given birth to three of those 9 all by myself. What’s worse, North Carolina was one of the states whose teens’ intake of three servings of vegetables and two of fruit was significantly below the national average.

What you have to wonder is, why?  Is our state vegetable not the sweet potato?  (Of course, the state fruit is the scuppernong grape. But I digress.) Do we not have an overabundance of grocery stores and farmer’s markets providing organic and chemically altered fresh, canned and frozen produce?

Maybe it is parenting.  Maybe enough of us didn’t plop apples and string beans, okra and pears on the plates of our preschoolers.  Maybe we didn’t guilt them into eating for the starving children in Africa or bribe them to clean their plates so they’d get Oreos for dessert.

Maybe it’s a convenience factor.  Fast food restaurants are just starting to catch on, but it is much harder to order a chicken wrap, package of apple slices and a bottle of water than it is to say, “I’ll have a #10 with a Coke.”  And snacks on the go?  Sure, we could stop by the grocery store and pick up some juicy grapes and apples.  But my kids are more likely to want to stop by the Kangaroo for some Cheezits.  (There is some hope: Del Monte has announced it will start stocking vending machines with fruit.)

Perhaps it’s a lack of knowledge.  Could it be that the Food Pyramid, Wake County Schools’ Winner Circle Healthy Eating Program, health classes or, for goodness sake, The Biggest Loser haven’t made a lasting impression on our teens?

As a parent, I know that even though I meet resistance, I need to keep offering the reds, greens, oranges, the purples and yellows.  I just wonder if I’d have greater success if maybe Gerber had a product line for teens…..

Pamela appears Tuesdays on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Pamela on her blog Crazy is My Life.