Sensible snacking.
It’s worth remembering that what children eat at mealtimes has a huge bearing on how often, and how much they snack. For healthy meal ideas that will keep them fuller for longer click here.
Kids who eat three meals a day shouldn’t need lots of snacks, but when they do make sure you’ve got plenty of healthy options close to hand.
Kids will grab the nearest snack going, and foods like chocolate bars, biscuits and cake won’t fill them up for long. So they’ll tend to snack even more.
With a little planning it’s easy to have lots of tasty and healthy options ready for eager little hands. Try to keep choices high in nutrients but low in salt, sugar and fat. And encourage them to eat starchy, filling foods like fruit and vegetables.
There are no rules about snacking, and banning them completely will probably make your kids crave them more, so try the ‘Two snacks max’ approach. It is as simple as it sounds – recommend they eat just two snacks a day – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If one of these snacks is one of the healthy suggestions listed below, it can even count towards their 5 a day.
As we’ve said there are no hard and fast rules and children under five might need small snacks between meals due to their small stomach size and higher energy needs for growth.
Healthy snacking made simple.
As a parent time is precious, so try to stock up on inexpensive ready-prepared snacks your kids can grab on the go. Here are a few tasty nibbles you can pick up in your local supermarket:
- Fun-sized fruit like apples, oranges and bananas. Remember fresh, tinned (in juice not syrup) or frozen all counts towards their 5 a day.
- A slice of malt loaf with low fat spread.The occasional small plain scone, pancake or crumpet but avoid toppings that are high in sugar and fat like jam and cream.
- Small cartons of semi-skimmed milk.
- Rice cakes – they now come in lots of delicious flavours.
- Breadsticks, oatcakes and the occasional savoury potato, cheese or soda scone but remember to avoid high fat spreads.
- Low fat, low sugar or artificially sweetened yoghurt. Try adding fresh, tinned (in natural juice) or frozen fruit to add flavour – it also ticks off another of their 5 a day!
- Remember flavoured yoghurts and fromage frais - including low fat varieties - can be high in sugar and should be saved for mealtimes only. Avoid packaging that encourages children to suck them through a tube as this can be harmful to their teeth.
And if you’ve a few moments to spare in the kitchen, try preparing these easy nibbles:
- Carrots, celery and cucumber sliced lengthways for dipping in tomato salsa.
- A chopped fruit salad in apple or orange juice. A bowl of ready washed grapes.
- Popcorn flavoured with garlic or herbs for a tasty alternative. This is easy to make – just put natural corn in a heavy pan and add your choice of herbs and adash of sunflower oil. Heat ‘till it pops.
- Fruit kebabs.
- Home baked crisps – simply slice a potato thinly and pop it in the microwave until it’s crisp.
- Reduced sugar wholegrain cereals with added raisins or dried fruit are a healthy snack but avoid adding extra sugar.
- A bowl of thinly grated carrot.If your kids have worked up a particularly big appetite here are a few suggestions for keeping larger hunger pangs at bay.
- Mini pitta bread pizzas – delicious hot or cold.
- Beans on wholemeal toast. Sultana and banana sandwiches.
- And finally, remember even traditional, less healthy snacks aren’t as bad for kids if you halve them! Try cutting up regular sized chocolate bars or buy family packs of crisps and encourage kids to take just a handful – at least it’s a step in the right direction!
Lunchbox ideas.
Keeping your children’s lunchboxes interesting day in, day out can be difficult,but you needn’t resort to pre-prepared unhealthy lunchbox foods, sweets and crisps.
Here are a few ideas to make sure your kids’ lunchboxes are packed with variety, nutrition and flavour. Remember many of these can be prepared at weekends and stored in the fridge for a couple of days to save time on busy school nights.
Mains
- Egg and cress wholemeal sandwiches.
- Pasta and sausage salad. Try wholemeal pasta to make it even healthier.
- Houmous, red pepper and grated carrot wrap.
- Double-decker wholemeal sandwich with edam cheese and ham.
- Tinned salmon salad baguette.
- Potato salad with spring onion and mixed beans in low-fat plain yoghurt.
- Mackerel and rice salad with tomato sauce and mixed veg.
- Pitta bread stuffed with chicken and tomato slices.
- Granary roll with hummus, lettuce, tomato and cucumber.
- Tuna and sweetcorn pasta salad with red peppers.
- Bagels topped with low fat cream cheese and tomato.
Snacks
- Satsumas
- Houmous with vegetable dips
- Handful of unsalted nuts (if the school allows nuts)
- Chopped carrots, celery or cucumber
Puddings
- A currant bun or slice of malt loaf with low fat spread
- Low fat fruit yoghurt
- Reduced fat and sugar fromage frais. (Remember to avoid tubes which can be harmful to teeth.)
- Tinned peaches in fruit juice with low fat custard
- Small packet of dried fruits
Drinks
- Water
- Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk
- No added sugar apple or orange juice
- Pineapple juice
- Tomato juice
- Fruit smoothies
Simple hints and tips.
Remember kids learn many of their eating habits from their parents, so setting agood example is always important. It’s also great for your waistline too. Getting a taste for healthy snacks is something everyone can do, and once it’s a habit it’ll stay with your kids for the rest of their lives.
It’s fine to allow the occasional less-healthy snack one or twice a week – but try to avoid calling them ‘treats’. They’re just there for variety.
Make the weekly food shop an outing for the whole family and let the kids see what you’re buying. Try to bring back one exotic or seasonal piece of fruit andveg each week. It’s great fun exploring the world this way.
Avoid soggy sandwiches in lunchboxes by wrapping wet vegetables like tomatoes and cucumber in lettuce.
Brighten up lunchboxes by drawing funny faces on fruits with peel like bananas and oranges.
Remember that kids who eat healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be less likely to snack, so keep meal times varied and fun.