Celebrate Going Back-to-School with Healthy Eating Tips from Intermountain Holy Rosary Hospital

As we move toward the new school year, Holy Rosary Healthcare’s providers and nutrition professionals wanted to highlight the importance of children eating a healthy diet and having an active lifestyle. Steve Griffin, pediatrician, and Mary Tvedt, registered dietitian, share the following tips for families to get the school year started right.

Make it a colorful season with dark and deep colored fruits and vegetables. Griffin and Tvedt suggest painting a colorful breakfast by adding fruit to oatmeal and breakfast cereals or adding diced red and yellow peppers, purple onion, green spinach, mushrooms, avocado to omelets, scrambled eggs, and breakfast sandwiches. Another idea is to stuff a whole wheat pita with low fat cream cheese and strawberries or apple slices with a dash of cinnamon. Lunch can explode in colors with fruit and vegetable kabobs, made with pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe chunks, orange segments, for fruit and cucumbers, zucchini, bell pepper, olives, cherry tomatoes, and low-fat cheese cubes for a “veggie-bob.”  Griffin and Tvedt suggest encouraging children to pick out a new fruit or vegetable or a “color” of the day. “They will be more likely to try new flavors if they choose themselves.”

Have fun with fruit and vegetables. Cucumber caterpillar and ants on a log are some tried and true ideas for increasing vegetables every day. Griffin and Tvedt suggest other fun and creative ideas as well. They suggest making a banana dog by spreading peanut or nut butter on a whole-grain hot dog bun, placing a peeled banana inside the bun and eating it like a hot dog. Another idea is apple nachos, arranging apple slices on a plate, drizzled with 1/4 cup natural nut butter, warmed, and top with small amount of mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut, slivered almonds and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Eat the fruit not the juice.  Griffin and Tvedt say instead of juice, offer water to drink and the fruit on the side.  “Juices pull lots of the good nutritional parts of the fruit out and leave us just with the sugary juice.  It’s always better to eat the whole fruit instead and have the water to drink.”

Set the best example. Parents choices show habits for those around them to learn. “Food should be a source of joy we can appreciate every day. When our families see the healthy foods served ‘center stage,’ they will do it when they plan their own meals in the future,” said Griffin and Tvedt.

Griffin and Tvedt say that if efforts do not immediately entice children, parents should be patient. “Simply continue to make whole grains, fruits, and veggies a part of every meal and snack and offer them in a variety of ways. Eventually your child will develop his or her own taste for nutrient dense food choices.”

About Intermountain Healthcare

Headquartered in Utah with locations in eight states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called SelectHealth with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information and updates, click here