To Snack or Not to Snack - How Much Do Kids Really Need?

Over the last decade, or more, snacking has almost become it’s own meal. In an article about Dietary Trends in America, it states:

“Sixty percent of Americans eat snack food regularly, consuming about 20 percent of their  calories  from snacks. Because half of young adults skip breakfast, and one-fourth skip lunch, between-meal eating contributes significantly to the daily  nutrient  intakes of Americans. Children, in particular, require several small meals per day, as their stomachs cannot hold large amounts of food at one time. Carefully chosen snacks can add to good dietary habits. Most Americans, however, do not snack wisely.”

Ahhh, the last sentence says it all. It’s not necessarily how much snacking we are doing - it’s what we are snacking on. With that said, the question remains: how much do kids really need to snack on during the day?

It’s not such an easy question to answer - it’s a delicate balance - finding a way to keep children well-fed so that they can concentrate at school but also making sure that they don’t eat too much.  Clearly, we have not found that balance in America….

Every child is different - some kids don’t need to eat frequently while others get low-blood sugar easily and need to space their meals and snacks accordingly.

So, here are some tips for every kind of eater on how to snack wisely:

1) As kids get older, their stomachs get bigger - so, they don’t need to eat every 30 minutes like when they were infants. By the time they are toddlers and able to go to school several days a week, they will benefit from a structured eating pattern. One mid-morning snack and another in the afternoon - and that’s it.

2) While we are on the topic of structured eating patterns - I want to reiterate how important this is for small children. A random feeding schedule makes it hard for the parents to determine if the children is actually hungry. It’s much easier for the parents to assess how much food the kids really need and how much they are eating, if they are sitting down for a snack at the same time every day. I’m pretty aware of my intake but even I can’t figure out how much I’ve eaten if I graze all day   - so, it’s important to prevent kids from picking up this habit.

3) While we don’t want kids to graze all day, we want to make sure that their blood sugar stays balanced (which I wrote about in a previous post). The trick is to rely on protein to keep blood sugar even-keel.  Most kids are carb junkies - fruit, noodles, crackers - which can cause blood sugar to spike and then drop. But by adding in some protein, they will feel satiated and can go 2-3 hours in between snacks and meals. And the bonus from this strategy is that by letting them get a little hungry, you’ll have much less of a battle at dinner time since they will be than ready to gobble down their meal! And the second best bonus? Less whining, crying, and outbursts.

4) No snacks right before meal time - this includes beverages such as smoothies, sodas, and drinks. Their little tummies fill up fast - and drinks right before a meal will shut off their hunger.

5) Of course, there are many days where snacks will be served in the car and on-the-go but when possible, try to sit the kids down at a table and treat snack time as a proper meal - with no TV! Children who eat in front of the television eat more calories - it’s never too early to teach them good eating habits.

6) And the most obvious tip to snacking wisely is to provide snacks that are nutritious and beneficial to growing bodies! Just because we are eating in between meals doesn’t mean we should reach for the chips and cookies. Again, we are teaching kids how to eat for life - the earlier they learn these simple lessons, the healthier they will be.

Here are some snack ideas - remember, try to include a little bit of protein in each snack (and meal!):

High-protein foods: yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, cubed tofu, hard-boiled eggs, nuts or nut butters, (if they are allergic to nuts, try sunflower seed butter or soy butter), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, tuna (just a little per week because of the mercury), kidney or black beans served as finger foods, turkey or chicken, hummus.

High-quality carbohydrate snacks: dried cherries, mangoes or pineapple, black olives, apple or banana chips, fruit smoothies, low-sugar granola or cereals, trail-mix, sliced fresh fruit, popcorn (not for tiny kids - it’s a choking hazard), vegetables with dip, apple butter on whole grain bread, honey-banana sandwiches (with peanut butter if possible), frozen grapes or blueberries.

I will end with TWO rules of thumb:

• Make sure they are not grazing all day but are sitting down for a proper snack that is actually in the middle of two meals.
• Make sure that the snack is high-quality.

It can sound like a lot of work to change the family snack habit but it will be worth it in the end - kids and adults will benefit from having healthier food in the house!