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for Smart Snacking
Smart snacking is simple and fast!
Snacks eaten between meals can be an important part of your daily food choices from the Food Guide Pyramid.
These general snack ideas are for children age 1 and older, teenagers and even adults.
Snacks count as part of the total calories consumed in a day. They can also be a source of good nutrition. Snacks are a normal part of a healthy diet for growing children; adults also love snacking.
Snacks are a good way to get children to eat fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat and fat-free milk and milk products.
Examples of some quick and easy snacks:
- Whole-grain crackers and low-fat cheese
- Snack-size low-fat yogurt or pudding
- Pretzels or un buttered popcorn
- Cut-up fruit in low-fat or fat-free yogurt
- Fruit smoothies
- Vegetable sticks with a low-fat yogurt dip
- Frozen fruit “pops” made from 100% juice
- Peanut butter on celery topped with raisins
- Strawberry-flavored low-fat milk and graham crackers
- Peanut butter on whole-grain toast
Bread, Cereal, Rice & Pasta Group
Vegetable Group
Fruit Group
Milk, Yogurt, & Cheese Group
Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, & Nuts Group
Snacks When You’re Away From Home
Snacks from home can be more nutritious and less costly than snacks bought from a vending machine or a convenience store.
Here are examples of snacks you can bring from home:
Use a cooler or an insulated bag with an ice pack for snacks that need to be kept cold.
Fats, Oils, & Sweets . . . Children and adults should have only small amounts of high-sugar and high-fat foods. These foods provide calories, but little or no vitamins and minerals.
These foods include - fried foods, high-fat snack chips, fruit drinks, sodas, candies, sweet desserts such as cake, pastries, and doughnuts.
How can you get your child to eat low fat snacks? . . . These easy-to-make recipes are a great place to start! Invite your child to help you prepare them, too. Cooking is an excellent way to introduce young children to math skills such as measuring, and science concepts such as how heat and cold change substances. Cooking offers you and your
child a chance to enjoy a project together. Remember to wash your hands and review kitchen safety rules before you begin.
Mexican Snack Pizzas
A low-fat, low-calorie pizza with a Mexican flavor. The beans and whole-wheat muffins
give a fiber boost.
4 servings Per pizza:
oregano. Spread on muffin halves.
Chili Popcorn
Prepare the popcorn in a microwave oven or hot air popper. The small amount of fat
added to the popcorn is just enough to make the other seasonings stick to the
popped kernels.
Foods that are round, hard, small, thick and sticky, smooth, or slippery should not be offered to children under 4 years
of age because of the risk of choking. Examples of such foods include hot dogs, whole grapes, seeds, nuts, popcorn, large pieces of raw carrot, and spoonfuls of peanut butter.
Fruit-Juice Cubes
Are you looking for an afternoon snack that is cool, refreshing, and different? Both children and adults will enjoy these bite-size fruit-juice cubes. They are a good replacement for sugary drinks, which supply almost no vitamins or minerals.
Other snack ideas
*Be careful. These foods may cause choking, especially in children less than 4 years of age. Peanut butter should not be served to children under age 2. When serving peanut butter to children ages 2 to 3, spread it very thinly on foods.