Healthy
Snacks for Kids
Ideas
for Energy Dense Snacks for Kids
Raw
Vegetables and Dip - vegetables are inexpensive, low in
calories, high in vitamins and minerals and high in fiber.
They make great snack foods, especially for kids that are
overweight. Try putting out an attractive platter of baby
carrots, sliced cucumbers, broccoli pieces (my kids like just
the tops!), cauliflower and any other vegetables your children
enjoy. Serve with a home made yogurt dip.
Dried
Fruit - is high in calories and good for high energy kids
and those who need to gain a few pounds. Limit this type of
snack for overweight children due to the high calorie content.
Watch out for preservatives, as some dried fruit is preserved
with sulfites. Sulfites have been implicated in a number of
prevalent, adverse childhood health conditions such as attention
deficit disorder and asthma.
Trader Joe's carries a variety of different types of dried
fruit leathers that make great lunch box snacks. If you want
to get really healthy, you can buy a dehydrator and make your
own dried fruit. Then you can experiment with some of the
more exotic types. When my children were younger I had a dehydrator
and would make my own dried fruit snacks for them. They especially
enjoyed dried cherries and kiwis.
Cheese
- Many kids enjoy cheese stick snacks. There is also something
about being able to make there own snacks with toothpicks
that is fun for kids. I used to lay out an assortment of ingredients
like crackers, small cheese slices, olives, pimientos, etc.
and some tooth picks and let my kids assemble their own snacks
on a toothpick skewer.
Eggs
- Hard boiled eggs make a good high protein snack. Young children
often have fun peeling eggs. Make sure you get them to eat
some of the yolks, too, as that is where much of the nutrition
is contained.
Yogurt
- Look for yogurt with active cultures for a dose of
helpful bacteria along with your yogurt. Avoid yogurts that
are high in sugar. A cheaper and healthier alternative to
sugar added yogurt is to buy a large container of plain yogurt
and then make your own "fruit at the bottom" type
using jams made with real fruit and no added sugar.
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