“Raising Healthier Kids With Better School Snack Choices”
A new school year is a great opportunity for moms to get a fresh start on the snack habits of their children. As moms and children are already experiencing change with their new schedules, it is a perfect time to establish a new healthy snack-routine as well. In this article, I will help you make the best snack choices for your child. Here are a few rules of thumb to get started:
- Water! Yes, I will be talking snacks too BUT this is sooo important that I need to mention it first. The habit of drinking water will help your child to have a better appetite toward nutritious foods, reduces their risk of being overweight, and keeps your child’s teeth healthy. Having a fun reusable water bottle and getting into the habit of taking it everywhere will make this habit easier to implement. Only offer water to drink and leave a juice as a special treat (if needed or not at all).
- Be cautious of pre-packaged snack options, ESPECIALLY if the food item has a cartoon character picture on it. Any food that needs an ad or a spokesperson… hmmm…. let’s be suspicious about it.
- Ask yourself “Would this snack balance MY hunger, energy and cravings?” If the answer is NO, then the snack is not the best option for your child either. Let’s take the single serving crackers as an example; I know that I could eat bags and bags of those little pre-packaged snacks and be hungry again in an hour! So would my boys!
- Check the label. Labels can be super-confusing, so let’s break it down. You MUST look past the packaging. The packaging will ALWAYS tell you all the good things and say things like: “All natural”, “great source of protein”, “great source of fiber”, “no sugar added”, “fat free” and more….
When looking at the label, use these simple HealthyGrowingKids’ GO or a NO Label Rules:
1. Look at the label and count ingredients;
- If 5 or less ingredients= GO
- If more than 5 ingredients= NO
2. Look at the sugar content (grams):
- If 5 g or less= GO,
- More than 5 g= NO
*this is per serving and often the servings are ridiculously small as well 3. Look for the hard to pronounce words in the ingredients;
- You and your child can pronounce the words= GO
- You or your child cannot pronounce the words = NO
*The more ingredients a label has, the more difficult the ingredients are to pronounce = the more processed the product is.
Here are features that we are looking for in a great snack:
- A great snack satisfies the child’s hunger, will not lead to cravings later in the day, and balances their energy (no highs and no lows)
- A great snack provides the child with REAL nutrition, has fiber, water, and protein. It also includes healthy fats. Healthy fats are super- important for your child’s development and need to be incorporated daily into your child’s meals and/or snacks. So if you do not offer snacks that contain healthy fats, make sure to incorporate them in the child’s other meals.
- A great snack is easy to make (for kids & Moms) and you can be the Plan-ahead-mom and prep it in bulk. We moms often feel that our child will need a different snack everyday of the week. That is not true! Find 2-4 staples and rotate them in your week. Prep them in bulk and freeze it if you can. This will make planning and the daily chores much easier on you.
Here are 7 Simple Snack Ideas To Get You Started:
You can make a bento-style style lunches by combining some of these ideas.
- Cut up vegetables, fruit, and berries- Apples are always versatile, cut into slices, eat as is, dipped into nut butters… Berries are awesome too! ***Bonus: not much prep needed AND soooo many options!
- Nuts and natural nut butters if your child is not allergic (any nut butters should have only 1 to 2 (max) ingredients in the label)
- Hardboiled eggs. To make them “different”; cut in half, scoop out the yolk and fill with hummus or chicken salad or anything
- Mini-meals of lunch, dinner, breakfast; cubed chicken breast, mini meatballs, sweet potato “fries”, egg muffins
- Greek Yogurt- look for a one with more protein, less sugar. Getting the natural kind and mixing in your own fruit is a great option. You can also use this as a dip.
Homemade healthy baked goods (using almond and coconut flours gives healthy fats and fiber, my favorite sweeteners are all natural xylitol and stevia- Homemade Protein Bars (again using egg whites, oat, almond and coconut flour etc.)
The last two are my personal favorites, as I can bake them in bulk, freeze them, and just put into the lunch boxes. Couple notes on protein: When planning snacks and meals, I recommend starting by considering what is the child’s protein source for that snack. Carbohydrates and fats are usually easier and faster to come by but protein takes more planning. Nut butters like peanut butter are not great sources of protein as a good source of protein will have MORE protein THAN carbs or fat on the label.
Remember that the first couple weeks of any new routine are always the hardest. Getting over the initial hump can be tough, however, the way to find the best snack routine for you is to PRACTICE. See what works for you and your child, and adjust to make sure it works for you in a long-term. Remember that even the small changes towards better choices add up to raise healthy growing kids!
Here's to the next generation of Rev babies!
~Anna
