Snacks for your children
Sensible snacks are those that provide adequate calories in a healthy and nutritious form but contribute little to tooth decay. They include fresh fruit and vegetables, cubes of cheese, cheese sandwiches with wholemeal bread, and fresh fruit juice.
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Studies performed on the eating habits of children show that under the age of four or five children prefer to eat, indeed their bodies require them to eat, frequently throughout the day. This is largely because their tiny stomachs can't cope with three adult-sized meals a day, and we shouldn't try to impose an adult eating pattern on them.
The actual range of how often a child eats is quite wide - from three to 14 times a day, with the average being around five to seven times.
The size of the meal he'll want will vary throughout the day, but as a general rule the more often a child eats, the smaller the meals will be. On average, children take in the same amount of nutrients, regardless of the number of times they eat in the day. However, what is important is not the number of times that your child eats but what he eats.
Most commercial snack foods, especially those bought from vending machines and fast-food stores are highly refined and processed, contain a lot of calories and very few nutrients. Avoid foods like biscuits, sweets, cakes, ice cream, raisins and other dried foods.
Planning out snacks for your children
Snack food should contribute to the whole day's nutrition, so don't leave them to chance; plan them out carefully. It is important to introduce variety as snacks can become boring to children just as meals can. Some of the ways in which you can do this are as follows:
- Try to co-ordinate meals and snacks so that you serve different foods in the snacks and in the meals.
- Try to make the snacks amusing. Place a tomato on top of an open wholemeal sandwich so that it looks like a smiling face, for instance, or cut up pieces of fruit in unusual shapes.
- Try to involve your child in planning and, more important, helping to prepare part of the snack.
- Take advantage of the activity to make the snack exciting and even educational. For example, have your child help you shell peas or make bread and then use whatever you've prepared together as part of the snack.
- You could think about serving an ordinary food in a different form: yogurt, which your child might not like straight out of the tub, becomes more like ice cream if you freeze it.
- Drinks are one of the best kinds of snacks, particularly if they are milk-based - though you should use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk once a child is over two years. Milk-based snacks are nutritious because they contain protein, calcium, iron and many of the B vitamins.
New Babycare
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley
Text copyright © 2009 Miriam Stoppard
Posted 03.11.2010
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