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FitNutrition, LLC
September is here, summer has ended, so it’s time for
parents, students and teachers to prepare for a new school
year. An important component of learning for students is
fueling their bodies and minds with nutritious, wholesome food
that provides the proper nutrients and energy required to
learn, grow and move.
Parents, teachers and school systems can be positive role
models for children when it comes to healthy eating. Both
parents and teachers must emphasize the importance of
healthy eating to children. A great place to start is ensuring
that children eat nutritious snacks and meals at school
because well-nourished children learn better, are healthier,
more active and are absent less due to illness.
Children should be taught that nutritious food is needed to fuel
their bodies for learning, growth, sports and play. Healthful
food promotes achievement in all aspects of a child’s life.
Due to their small stomach volume and high energy
requirements, children require frequent meals and snacks.
Snacks should be nutritious and smaller versions of meals.
Back to School Nutrition
However, many children consume unhealthy, nutrient-poor snacks that are high in sugar and heart unhealthy
fats. Children are consuming increasingly more soda and sweetened beverages while their intake of milk and
100% fruit juice has declined. Almost a quarter of adolescents are consuming more than 26 ounces of soft
drinks each day. Many snacks eaten and available to children are high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.
What are healthy snacks that are easy for parents and children to prepare and kids are likely to eat? Here
are a few guidelines for creating tasty, nutrient-dense snacks for kids.
To help satisfy your children’s hunger for a longer amount of time, combine at least two of the five food
groups for snacks.
The five food groups are:
1) grains (e.g. bread, pasta, rice, crackers, pretzels, granola, cereal)
2) vegetables
3) fruit
4) protein (e.g. cottage cheese, lean cuts of meat, fish and poultry and fish)
5) dairy (e.g. low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese).
Think variety, color, flavor, and texture. Mix and match different colors. This will improve the likelihood
that your children will try food because they not only eat with their mouths, but also with their eyes. The
more pleasing the food appears, the greater the chances are that your children will want to sample it.
Try different textures to create a more interesting snack or meal. For example, creamy cheese with whole
grain crisp crackers, or smooth yogurt with crunchy cereal and colorful fruit, or crisp orange baby carrots
and green, red or yellow sweet peppers with low-fat dip or hummus are excellent choices. Each snack
suggestion combines at least two food groups, is colorful, contains different textures and tastes, and is
nutritious and filling. They are also easy to prepare.
To make snack preparation as easy as possible and environmentally friendly, invest in reusable small,
plastic containers. Encourage your children to bring home uneaten, nonperishable food. This teaches them
to not waste food and allows you to see what has and hasn’t been eaten. If food wasn’t eaten, ask them
why. Food may be brought home because your child was full or because he or she didn’t like it. Ask
your child what else they may like to have for a snack or offer suggestions of other healthy alternatives for
them to choose from.
Strive to provide your children with age-appropriate portions because adult-sized portions can overwhelm
children and cause them to become disinterested in the entire meal or snack. Smaller portions with more
options also leads to independence because it allows your children to choose what they are in the mood
for. If all of the options are healthy then you need not worry about your children eating only a small
portion of what is packed.
Be cautious of marketing techniques. A company may claim that their product contains real fruit juice.
Check to see how much it contains. Fruit drinks may contain only about 5% real fruit juice and the rest is
simply sugar! Look for 100% fruit juice. Know the difference between whole grain verses 100% whole
grain as well as wheat verses whole wheat. The later choices are the healthier options because the grain
used has undergone less processing and therefore, contains more naturally occurring fiber, protein and
other important nutrients.
Check the ingredient list for “partially hydrogenated” or “fully hydrogenated” oils (i.e. trans fat). A
company can advertise that a product has 0 grams of trans fat per serving as long as it contains less than
0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Avoid foods that contain partially or fully hydrogenated oils. And,
remember, just because a food product is advertised as nutritious doesn’t mean that it is. If a company
promotes their product as nutritious, ask yourself, “Nutritious according to whom? My standards or the
company’s standards?”
First published in The Mystic Times and The Stonington Times in August 2008.
fats. Children are consuming increasingly more soda and sweetened beverages while their intake of milk and
100% fruit juice has declined. Almost a quarter of adolescents are consuming more than 26 ounces of soft
drinks each day. Many snacks eaten and available to children are high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.
What are healthy snacks that are easy for parents and children to prepare and kids are likely to eat? Here
are a few guidelines for creating tasty, nutrient-dense snacks for kids.
To help satisfy your children’s hunger for a longer amount of time, combine at least two of the five food
groups for snacks.
The five food groups are:
1) grains (e.g. bread, pasta, rice, crackers, pretzels, granola, cereal)
2) vegetables
3) fruit
4) protein (e.g. cottage cheese, lean cuts of meat, fish and poultry and fish)
5) dairy (e.g. low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese).
Think variety, color, flavor, and texture. Mix and match different colors. This will improve the likelihood
that your children will try food because they not only eat with their mouths, but also with their eyes. The
more pleasing the food appears, the greater the chances are that your children will want to sample it.
Try different textures to create a more interesting snack or meal. For example, creamy cheese with whole
grain crisp crackers, or smooth yogurt with crunchy cereal and colorful fruit, or crisp orange baby carrots
and green, red or yellow sweet peppers with low-fat dip or hummus are excellent choices. Each snack
suggestion combines at least two food groups, is colorful, contains different textures and tastes, and is
nutritious and filling. They are also easy to prepare.
To make snack preparation as easy as possible and environmentally friendly, invest in reusable small,
plastic containers. Encourage your children to bring home uneaten, nonperishable food. This teaches them
to not waste food and allows you to see what has and hasn’t been eaten. If food wasn’t eaten, ask them
why. Food may be brought home because your child was full or because he or she didn’t like it. Ask
your child what else they may like to have for a snack or offer suggestions of other healthy alternatives for
them to choose from.
Strive to provide your children with age-appropriate portions because adult-sized portions can overwhelm
children and cause them to become disinterested in the entire meal or snack. Smaller portions with more
options also leads to independence because it allows your children to choose what they are in the mood
for. If all of the options are healthy then you need not worry about your children eating only a small
portion of what is packed.
Be cautious of marketing techniques. A company may claim that their product contains real fruit juice.
Check to see how much it contains. Fruit drinks may contain only about 5% real fruit juice and the rest is
simply sugar! Look for 100% fruit juice. Know the difference between whole grain verses 100% whole
grain as well as wheat verses whole wheat. The later choices are the healthier options because the grain
used has undergone less processing and therefore, contains more naturally occurring fiber, protein and
other important nutrients.
Check the ingredient list for “partially hydrogenated” or “fully hydrogenated” oils (i.e. trans fat). A
company can advertise that a product has 0 grams of trans fat per serving as long as it contains less than
0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Avoid foods that contain partially or fully hydrogenated oils. And,
remember, just because a food product is advertised as nutritious doesn’t mean that it is. If a company
promotes their product as nutritious, ask yourself, “Nutritious according to whom? My standards or the
company’s standards?”
First published in The Mystic Times and The Stonington Times in August 2008.
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| 860.536.3610 fit.nutrition@sbcglobal.net 19 Pons Road Mystic, CT 06355 |