Healthy Snacks Your Kids Will Actually Eat

Incorporating healthy foods into your child’s diet can improve their overall health, fight weight gain, regulate their moods, boost brain power and give kids energy they need to stay active all day.

“As a parent, I know how hard it can be to get children to eat healthy,” said Kayla Hefner, CVMC Child Health/Safety Specialist”.

Most kids love to snack throughout the day, but making it healthy can be a challenge. To help tackle this issue, The Mayo Clinic has provided tips on how to promote healthy snacks that kids will actually eat.

1. Go for the grain– whole grain foods, such as whole-grain cereals, tortillas and pretzels provide lasting energy.
2. Mix and Match – Serve baby carrots or other raw veggies with fat-free ranch dressing or hummus. Dip graham cracker sticks or fresh fruit in fat-free yogurt. Spread peanut butter on celery, apples or bananas.
3. Broaden the menu– offer new foods to kids such as avocados, pineapples, red and yellow peppers or mangos. Mix together for a colorful snack
4. Revisit breakfast– certain breakfast foods can be snacks in the evenings. Consider dried cereal mixed with dried fruit and nuts or microwaveable oatmeal made with low-fat milk and mixed with unsweetened applesauce and cinnamon.
5. Sweeten it up– healthy snacks don’t have to be bland. To satisfy your child’s sweet tooth, offer lower fat puddings and frozen yogurt or frozen fruit bars. Make smoothies with milk, plain yogurt, and fresh or frozen fruit.
6. Have fun– Use a cookie cutter to make shapes out of low-fat cheese slices, whole-grain bread or whole-grain tortillas. Make fruit kebabs or show your child how to eat diced fruit with chopsticks. Make a tower out of whole-grain crackers, spell words with pretzel sticks, or make funny faces on a plate using different types of fruit.

There are several ways to make eating healthy fun for kids. Get them involved in the meal preparation and cooking process. They will be interested in eating their meal knowing they helped create it. Parents- kids pay close attention to how and what you eat. So be a good role model and demonstrate how to make healthy choices. Have fun with a variety of foods. Make smiley face pancakes, turn toast into hearts or cheese into stars. The more creative the food the more likely kids are to eat it. For more healthy snacking tips check out The Health First Center Facebook pagethroughout the month for tips and recipes on healthy foods the kids will actually eat. For more information, please contact Kayla Hefner, CVMC Child Health/Safety Specialist – kshefner@catawbavalleymc.org or (828) 485-2300 ext. 6204.