Afternoon Snacks
An afternoon snack is not just an indulgence: active kids with fast metabolisms and small-capacity tummies need a between-meal pick-me-up on a regular basis. It can be 5 hours or more between lunch and dinner, and that's too long for most children to go without beginning to droop for lack of fuel. Snacks can, and should, be a part of every child's balanced diet. For school-age kids an afternoon snack will give children more energy after school, and they'll be able to concentrate on homework, and have more energy to play outside rather than merely flop down in front of the television or their computer console.
Let Children Choose
It is easy to equate snacking with junk food, but it doesn't have to be the case. Fortunately, there is a happy medium to be reached between the all-out junk food that your children would be inclined to eat if left to their own devices, and the menacing green piles of steamed vegetables that you would love to see them eat. The important thing is to provide children with choices when it comes to snacking. If all the choices you give them are reasonably nutritious ones, then everybody's happy: your children get to choose their snacks, and you get to ensure that they're eating healthily.
Is it possible to make fruits, vegetables, lean protein, low fat dairy products and whole grains appealing to your children? You've probably got a few tricks up your sleeve already to do just such a thing, but here are some of our favourite tried and tested methods for encouraging children to go for the healthy alternatives.
Nutritious Dips
If your children turn up their noses at fruits and vegetables, you may be surprised to find that all you need to do is present the same foods in a different way and suddenly they won't be able to get enough of them. Children love anything they can dip! A small bag full of carrot and celery sticks, cucumber and bell pepper slices, sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes will disappear like magic if there's a tub of dip to go with them. Make a batch of nutritious hummus, bean dip or salsa. Baked tortilla chips and whole wheat crackers or pitta triangles are perfect, nutritious and kid-pleasing accompaniments for dips, too. Sliced fruit takes on a whole new appeal as well when it's accompanied by a sweet, creamy dip. Good fruit dips include flavoured yogurt, applesauce, low fat natural yoghurt sweetened with honey or brown sugar, and caramel ice cream topping.
Be Constructive
Many children love to turn any eating occasion into an interactive experience. You may have a "don't play with your food" rule at mealtimes, but try relaxing the rule at snack time, and you'll become your child's hero. By letting them construct their own snacks, you'll also keep them occupied for awhile and ensure that they're more likely to sample whatever nutritious foods they're tinkering with. And, by encouraging your child to assemble their own snacks, you just may be encouraging a lifelong interest in cooking!
Mini sandwiches made from crackers or cut-up bread will be a big hit. The children will have a wonderful time at snack time if you give them a few slices of bread, sliced meat and cheese, and a couple of miniature cookie cutters to make tiny, fun shaped sandwiches.
All children love pizza! Pizza doesn't have to be loaded with fat - it can be a perfectly healthy snack. Depending on the age of your child and their appetite, they can use half an English muffin, a whole pitta or a tortilla as a pizza base. Let them smear on some tomato sauce, sprinkle it lightly with low fat mozzarella cheese and top with chopped vegetables and a little bit of lean meat if desired. Heat for a few minutes under the grill or in the microwave, and then cut the pizza into triangles, allow to cool down a little before serving.
A selection of melon balls, berries, pineapple chunks and cubed peaches, pears or apples will be eagerly grabbed at by little hands and piled onto toothpicks to make fruit kebabs.
If you give your children the choices and a little bit of freedom to prepare the food, I am sure they will soon get the message and welcome their newly found healthy snacks as the norm. This will stand them in good stead for their future health.
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