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Healthy Snacks for Kids

As concerns grow regarding childhood obesity, particularly in the west, parents are being urged more and more to find healthy snacks for their children.

Providing healthier alternatives is not just to be addressed in order to avoid or reduce obesity. A healthy diet will give your child more energy, can improve moods and mental health and will help to reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Many of the ‘junk’ foods are not only loaded with sugars and calories but they are ‘empty’, that is they have no significant nutritional value.

With a little bit of knowledge regarding different types of fats and sugars and a little effort when shopping to check labels for ingredients you will be able to offer your child a healthier diet.

Below is a list of healthy snack ideas for children to give you a start

Fruit – children rarely get their recommended daily intake of fruit. Try involving your child in the selection and preparation of fruit to raise their interest. Mixtures of colors or exotic fruits can make the choice more tempting to a child.

Dried Fruits – often sold as ready mixed this can be bulked out with a handful of unsalted nuts. Nuts have good nutritional value but can be high in calories so use nuts as a supplement to other snacks.

Low-fat natural yogurt – this can often be a little bland on its own for a child so try adding to fruit, dried fruit and nuts. Another idea is to mix cinnamon into the yogurt. Cinnamon has its own unique fat reducing properties and serves as a great addition to add flavour.

Rice cakes – these can now be bought as sweet or savory options. Do check the sugar content for both before deciding on which brand to buy as it does vary. Toppings for savory varieties can be low fat meat such as chicken or fish such as tuna sprinkled with chopped onion, chives, cucumber or tomatoes.

Cereal bars – avoid sugared or chocolate coated options. Some offer low fat yogurt but be sure to check the label.

Vegetables – as with fruit children are often not receiving their recommended intake. Raw vegetables often offer high nutritional value. Present as sticks for dipping in hummus or low fat salad dressings. Peanut butter is another option but regulate this as peanuts, although of significant nutritional value, are high in calories.

Milkshakes or smoothies – arm yourself with a recipe book or use the internet and you will find you have enough ideas to make a different smoothie for every day of the year. Smoothies can be made with low fat yogurt or low fat milk and an endless variety of fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices.

Pita bread – fill with vegetables mixed with low fat salad dressings, lean meat or fish

Flour tortillas – fill as for pita pockets and roll into a sausage shape

Popcorn – buy unbuttered plain popcorn and sprinkle with cinnamon

Crackers and crisp breads – some low fat cheeses are okay if used sparingly and then topped with cucumber or tomato or other salad vegetables. Peanut butter can also be used but, as before, keep this to a minimum.

Tortilla chips – sprinkled with cheese and baked under a grill. Be sure to buy unsalted or very low salt tortillas and again opt for low fat cheese. This is not a snack to be eaten every day but gives an option that is popular with children for a bit more of a treat.

Vegetable chips – healthier options to standard chips are now available. However they are often not as ‘healthy’ as the manufacturer would like you to believe so do check labels and keep this option as a less used treat.

It is almost impossible to deny children snacks and it can in fact prove counterproductive by doing so. Many people, children included, are ‘grazers’ and are suited to eating little and often rather than square meals at a set time with no snacking in between. Many adults have reported that diets are more likely to fail where they feel totally deprived of all they enjoy and it is no different for children.

Be aware of what your child is eating and aim to improve this gradually rather than instantly removing all that they know and replacing it with often less appetizing or strange options.

The article Healthy Snacks for Kids has been written by Outofstress.com expert author Deneice Arthurton. © 2010 Outofstress.com. Do not reproduce.