Planning healthy kid snacks
Is there other information that is helpful for planning snacks?
Getting kids involved
Guidelines and suggestions

Statistics show that more children today are overweight than ever before. Poor eating habits, along with inadequate exercise, and genetic factors all play a role in childhood obesity. Studies indicate that children whose parents are overweight are at increased risk of becoming overweight themselves. The health risks associated with obesity are numerous and well documented. They include heart disease, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, diabetes, and an increased risk of developing some forms of cancer.

From the time that parents first introduce table food into their child's diet, they begin to set the tone for the development of their child's eating habits. Good eating habits are learned, and parents must serve as good role models, if they expect their children to be able to make healthy food choices later on in life.

Growing children need more food energy than they can consume during a single meal. Nutritious, well planned, snacks are a vital part of your child's diet and can account for up to 20% of your child's daily energy and nutrient needs. Think of kids snack time as a planned mini meal and not a spur of the moment indulgence. Deciding when, how much and what types of snack foods to serve your children are important considerations in planning your child's overall diet

Planning healthy kid snacks

When planning your family's meals and snacks, the best place to begin is with The Food Guide Pyramid. The Pyramid, developed jointly, by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) represents an outline of what types and quantities of foods should be consumed each day.

The Food Guide Pyramid is intended for use by Americans age 2 and over. Attempts to limit fat intake for infants and toddlers is considered unsafe, since children under age 2 need fat and calories to fuel their rapid growth

Determining what constitutes a child size serving can be confusing. When using The Food Guide Pyramid to plan healthy kid snacks, consider the following approximate amounts to offer children of various ages:

Serving Size For:

Is there other information that is helpful for planning snacks?

Nutrition experts agree that no food should be labeled "good " or "bad". It is therefore recommended that you do not totally eliminate snack choices just because of the calorie, fat, or sugar content All foods, in moderation, (yes, that includes candy bars and chips) can fit into your child's diet. The key to healthy snacking is in providing a balance of food choices that your child can enjoy.

Make it a point to read the Nutrition Facts label that now appears on most processed or prepared food products. Nutrition Fact labels provide useful information about serving size, total calories, calories from carbohydrates, protein, and fat along with information on other nutrients contained in the food.

In addition to the Nutrition Facts label, food manufacturers are now required to list on the label, in descending order, the weight of all ingredients in a food product. Try to select snacks that do not have sugar, salt (sodium), or oils listed as the prime ingredients.

Getting kids involved

You can begin to involve your child in planning a healthy diet by providing them with a variety of nutritious options. Develop a list of possible food choices, and then allow your children to help select the snack foods that are purchased. Even if your children do not go to the supermarket with you, they can be involved in deciding which snacks to buy. Kids feel better when they have something to say about what they eat, and you can avoid snack time battles if you allow them to have some input in their food choices.

Teach your children about The Food Guide Pyramid and allow your children to participate in meal preparation. Reinforce the importance of selecting a variety of foods each day. During mealtimes, ask your child to identify which food groups are represented on their plate.

If you are having difficulty getting your child to comply with the recommendations of The Food Guide Pyramid, begin keeping a food diary for your child. Offer to reward your child when their food diary shows that during one week a variety of foods were eaten each day.

Guidelines and suggestions

1. Prepare snacks that are kid friendly. When serving fruits and vegetables, offer them in bite size portions. Some fruits, like grapes and strawberries, come naturally in smaller sizes. Other fruits and vegetables, like apples, pears, and carrots can be cut up into sizes that kids can easily manage. Try to prepare snacks in advance, whenever possible. If healthy snacks are readily available, your children will be more likely to choose them when hunger strikes.
2. Offer low-fat dips to accompany healthy food choices. Kids will eat more fruits and vegetables when they are served with yogurt dips and low-fat salad dressings.
3. Select only juices that are 100% juice. All fruit drinks are now required to list the "%juice" on the label. Many products that advertise themselves as "fruit juices" contain no more than 10% juice. Avoid soft drinks whenever possible.
4. Limit cookies, doughnuts, brownies, and other baked goods. Instead serve bagels, rice cakes or tortillas and allow your child to add a bit of peanut butter, jam, or low fat cream cheese to their selections. Kids also enjoy mixing several types of ready to eat cereals together for a snack.
5. Limit chips and other salty, high fat, snacks. Instead offer baked pretzels, air-popped popcorn, dry cereal, granola, or low-fat cheese and whole grain crackers.
6. Find ways to increase your child's calcium intake. Buy plain or flavored low-fat yogurt and allow kids to make individual sundaes, using healthy toppings like fruit and granola. Add a little flavored syrup to a glass of milk for a special treat. Allow your child to help prepare a milkshake or smoothie made with low fat milk, yogurt, and fruit.
7. Plan ahead when going on family outings. Instead of buying snacks at fast food restaurants or concession stands, pack individual snack bags, filled with pretzels, nuts and dried fruit to take along with you.
8. Limit caffeine intake. Caffeine affects children the same way as adults and should be offered only in small amounts, if at all.
9. Avoid classifying foods as "good" or "bad". There are only bad diets- when foods high in sugar, salt, and fat are eaten in excess. All snack foods can be enjoyed in moderation.
10. Don't be swayed by advertising. Many prepared foods that are marketed as kid friendly are poor in nutrition. Oscar Mayer's Lunchables that come with a treat and a drink get two-thirds of their calories from fat and sugar.