Healthy Snacks Children Can Eat

Most children need to eat every 3-4 hours to get enough energy for their day. So, aside from 3 meals, younger children need at least 2 snacks a day, and older ones need at least 1. There are many healthy snacks that provide nutrients to children and help them feel full between regular meals.

5-Minute Crafts is going to tell you what kind of snacks should be avoided and how to replace them with good snacks at home, at school, or on a trip.

Bad snacks that should be avoided

• Chips
• Juice-flavored drinks. Most juices on supermarket shelves contain very little actual fruit juice. But they have a lot of sugar. Having these drinks may lead to obesity in children.
• Cookies
• Candy. It doesn’t have a lot of nutrients but it does have lots of sugar, along with artificial flavors.
• Yogurt. Of course, there are healthy yogurts. But many of them contain additives, preservatives, and sugar that make them bad for children. They can also contain artificial flavors and dye agents.
• White bread
• Processed meats (like lunch meats, sausages, hot dogs, and ham) and other foods rich in salt.

Good snacks for school

Use foods that won’t go bad if they spend a little time in a lunchbox. They include:

• fruits with sturdy peels, like oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, and plums
• vegetables, like carrots and tomatoes
• lettuce
• whole-grain crackers
• whole-grain granola bars that are low in sugar
• hard-boiled egg
• water (this is the best option for children to stay hydrated during the day)
• sandwiches with whole-grain bread (use non-fat cheese, meat, like baked chicken and turkey, and vegetables)

Important:

❗ Perishable foods like dairy products, eggs, and sliced meats should be kept cool, and be eaten within about 4 hours of preparation. Don’t pack these foods right after cooking. Cool them in the fridge first.

❗ If you prepare the snacks beforehand, keep them in the fridge until the child leaves for school.

❗ Ask your children to keep the packed food in their school bags and far from sunlight and heat sources. Ideally, it should be a dark and cool place, like a locker. You can put a cooling element into the lunchbox.

Healthy snacks for home

Keep a bowl of fresh fruit in the center of your dinner table.

• Make a smoothie as a snack between meals. Mix milk or yogurt with berries, bananas, and other fruits.
• Make applesauce without sugar and add nuts and raisins.

Good snacks for a trip

If there is no fridge in the car, these snacks are good:

• fruit
• whole-grain crackers
• carrot sticks

If there is a fridge, you can also offer:

• non-fat cream cheese
• unsweetened yogurt (check the ingredients to find the ones rich in protein and calcium)
• a sandwich with chicken breasts and vegetables (you can use non-fat meat like turkey or beef)