Simple ways to help your child eat healthier

OREM – For the Bosley family, healthy eating is important.

“Eating healthy can help you have kids that are more well-behaved, help them focus in school. There’s just all kinds of benefits,” said Justin Bosley, a nutritional scientist and the dad of three-year-old Ellie.

“Everything that goes in her tummy, I know, is good, and so I feel like that reduces my stress levels as a parent,” added mom Ashley Bosley.

Ashley and Justin Bosley want to help their daughter, Eliana, who they call Ellie, to have a healthy relationship with food.

“We feed her things that I would be eating, things he would be eating, and that’s what she’s used to,” Ashley Bosley said. “That’s what she loves.”

The couple said it takes trial and error to find what works.

“It’s just a matter of trying different things and experimenting,” Ashley Bosley said. “And it’s okay if they don’t like one thing – it’s okay to have their preferences. But there’s so much variety out there.”

“Parents have the responsibility of offering the foods, and the child has the responsibility of choosing what foods you offer that they’re going to eat. Offering them at every single meal and not pressuring is the most important,” said Melanie Holden, a registered dietitian nutritionist at Intermountain Health.

Holden said children should have a well-balanced diet consisting of proteins, grains, fruits, vegetables, and some dairy. She suggests offering protein at every meal and snack and pairing proteins with healthy fats – like apples with nut butter.

Holden added that it is important to limit high-sugar foods.

“We want to avoid adding things to our foods just to make them sweet,” she said.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends no added sugars for kids younger than two. For kids two and older, including adults, added sugar should make up no more than 10% of their daily calories.

“I think the biggest misconception in childhood nutrition is that kids won’t like anything except for highly processed, refined, things that are high in white sugar or white flour…and that’s just not true,” Justin Bosley said. “Your taste buds will develop based upon what you eat.”

The Bosleys said it’s all about finding healthier alternatives, like using whole-wheat macaroni if your child likes mac and cheese. The couple also suggests preparing food beforehand, like cutting up fruits and veggies and dividing them into bags.

“If it’s easy, that’s what you’ll grab,” Ashley Bosley said. “I think it’s just a matter of making the healthy foods convenient.”

They’ve seen the impacts a healthy diet has had on their daughter.

“She’s well-nourished. She’s happy. (There are) health benefits right now in the short-term but I know that it’s also going to benefit her in the long-term as well,” Ashley Bosley said.