While snacks are pretty ubiquitous in most homes with little kids, there are definitely ways to make snacks a healthy option for children. Ideally, a snack is a small nutrient dense mini-meal, eaten a couple hours between meals and not too close to the next meal. Children will typically need one to three snacks throughout the day.
Plan and provide your child’s snacks around the same times daily. If children seem to be munching at every opportunity, it may help to take a step back and look at the types of food they are snacking on and distinguish the difference between a treat and a snack. Additionally, identify the reason for the snack, is it physical hunger or emotional hunger. Use the following snack list as a reference for providing super nutrition snacks to your children!
Crunchy Snacks
- Air popped popcorn
- Roasted chickpeas
- Nuts
- Pumpkin seeds
- Carrot sticks
- Cucumbers
- Sugar snap peas
- Freeze dried strawberries
- Freeze dried bananas
- Frozen fruit
- Fresh apples
- Plain cheerios
- Fresh cherry tomatoes
- Bell peppers
Non-crunchy Snacks
- Plain yogurt – sweetened with cinnamon and vanilla extract
- Unsweetened applesauce – add your own cinnamon
- Cheese stick
- Cottage cheese
- Fresh fruit
- Turkey jerky
- Hummus
- Hard boiled eggs
- Individual tuna cups
- Deli meat roll ups (low-sodium sliced turkey wrapped around 1 cheese stick)
Interested in setting up a nutrition consult? Schedule an appointment with one of our pediatric dietitians at Feed to Succeed by phone (847.724.8015) or email ([email protected]). Follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
