According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly one-fourth of a child’s daily calories come from between-meal snacks. In fact, kids need snacks because their stomachs are too small to take in sufficient nutrition in just three meals a day.
Snacks become a problem when high-sugar, high-fat or high-sodium choices become the rule, rather than the exception. Childhood obesity is on the rise, yet every contributing factor, save genetics, can be mitigated by changing eating and exercise habits.
The secret to healthy snacking is planning ahead, shopping for specific foods, and holding firm when your child wants Twinkies instead of peanut butter on celery stalks.
Use small plastic bags for pre-measured portions so you’ll always have snacks ready for growling tummies. Keep a supply of snacks on a special shelf of the refrigerator or pantry so older children can help themselves.
And if Junior is getting tired of the same old snacks, try putting some of these into rotation:
- Nonfat cottage cheese or yogurt with fruit
- Smoothies with milk or yogurt and sliced bananas or strawberries
- Whole-wheat crackers with cheese or peanut butter
- Yogurt with fresh fruit or granola
- Low-fat chocolate milk
- Raw vegetable sticks with low-fat yogurt dip, cottage cheese or hummus
- Fresh fruits, cut into pieces and frozen
- Baby carrots
- Applesauce cups (unsweetened)
- Dried fruit such as raisins or plums, and nuts
- Cereal, either dry or with low-fat milk
- Baked potato chips, bagel chips or tortilla chips with salsa
- Reduced-fat microwave popcorn in the “snack size” bag
- Whole-grain crackers or English muffin with peanut butter
- Pretzels (lightly salted or unsalted) and a glass of milk
- Vanilla wafers, gingersnaps, graham crackers, animal
crackers or fig bars and a glass of milk
Wait a minute…why isn’t fruit juice on this list? Truth is, most fruit juices are high in calories, and, unlike fresh fruit, have little fiber. Plus, drinking juice all day long can lead to tooth decay. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children drink no more than two 6-ounce servings of fruit juice per day.
“Snacking can become a sore spot between parents and children,” says Lorraine Gray, R.D., HMF’s staff dietitian. “One good strategy is to give hungry kids a choice between two or more healthy alternatives.”