Healthy Tips & Suggestions for Kids Food & Snacks
- Education is important, so as a parent start to educate yourself about health benefits and healthy nutrition so that you can then start to teach the benefits to your children.
- Planning ahead makes the job of providing healthy snack alternatives for the family easier.
- Snacks with less saturated fat should be chosen such as icy poles in place of ice cream.
- Snack on frozen fruits e.g. cut oranges, strawberries, bananas etc.
- Make fruit chillers with ice or smoothies or juice from the fruit.
- Vegetable snacks are also an option. Try chopped sticks of celery or carrots.
- Dried fruit and mixed nuts (in their raw state) are suitable and healthy alternative for children to snack on.
- Parents should control inappropriate food intake, i.e. do not stock the pantry with unhealthy foods.
- Chop up fruit and vegetables and leave them on a plate in the fridge for the children to grab. This allows for a quick, easy and immediate snack. Kids take particular note of bright and colourful foods so keep this in mind when shopping.
- Read labels on pre-packaged foods. Take note of ingredients such as added colours, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, etc.
- Teach children the importance of drinking water. Avoid adding cordial or drinking juices with added sugar as much as possible.
