Fun and Healthy Snacks that Your Kids Would Like

Fun and Healthy Snacks that Your Kids Would Like

Do you know that McDonald’s has now eliminated sodas from their kid’s menus? Yes, it’s true! The fast food chain has made a commitment to market and promote only milk, water and juice with their children’s meals. This is certainly a step in the right direction towards a concerted effort to help raise healthier kids by promoting healthful choices at the restaurant. This announcement was made in partnership with The Alliance for a Healthy Generation, founded by the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, as part of their strategy to reduce and stop childhood obesity.

As part of this initiative, “McDonald’s will no longer be marketed or promoted visually in any of McDonald’s advertisements or in-store visuals.”

Parents will still have the option of ordering sodas, but before you do, take some time to consider the health consequences of this decision. You are probably not unaware of the ill effects of sugar on your health. Your active and growing child needs nutritious and healthy foods to properly support its growth and development.

Studies have repeatedly proven the link between sugar and a high calorie diet and diabetes (among many other things). Further, studies have revealed that adults who were overweight as children have a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases as adults, even if they eventually lose the weight. Researchers believe that the reason for this association is that the number of adipose tissues or “fat tissues,” where you store fat, increase in number as you gain weight but the number of fat cells do not go down as you lose weight. Instead, they simply get smaller.

Regardless of the mechanism, the more important issues are the choices you make for your children, starting with their diet. Children can be picky eaters, which makes it even more critical that you be conscientious of the foods you introduce them to and get accustomed to eating.

Below are some tips and things to remember to help make meal times with your children less of a struggle. Also included are some ideas for healthy and fun snacks that your kids would not be able to resist.

Tip #1 – Remember that kids (toddlers) need less food and they are always on-the-go

Rather than forcing your toddler to “behave” and go outside their nature and force them to sit still for their meals (you may be behaved and sit still now, but you were a kid once and you were just like how your kid is now), just relax and pretty much let your kid decide how much they eat, and if and when they eat. Small and frequent feeding is key. If you stress out too much about getting your kid to sit still, then your kid may dread meal time as well as it becomes an experience of struggle for them as it is for you.

Tip #2 – Offer a nibble tray

Dr. Sears recommends to use an ice-cube tray, a muffin tin or compartmentalized dish and to put bit-sized portions of colorful and nutritious foods to choose from such as:

• apple moons (thinly sliced)
• avocado boats (a quarter of an avocado)
• banana wheels
• broccoli trees (steamed broccoli florets)
• carrot swords (cooked and thinly sliced)
• cheese building blocks
• luncheon meats and cold cuts (there are now healthier options for beef jerkies and beef sticks)
• egg canoes (hard- boiled egg wedges)
• little O’s (o-shaped cereal)

 Tip#3 – Serve it with a smorgasbord or dips

Who doesn’t love dips? You have to admit, that even as adults, fruits and veggies are more fun to eat with your choice of dips. You can easily complement your kid’s fruit and veggie tray with the following choices of equally healthy dips. These dips also go well, with bell pepper strips, bagels, toast and rice cakes:

• cottage cheese or tofu dip
• cream cheese
• fruit juice-sweetened preserves
• guacamole
• peanut butter, thinly spread
• pureed fruits or vegetables
• Greek yogurt, plain or sweetened with juice concentrate

Tip #4 – Play with your food

Make meal prep time fun for yourself as it is for your kids. There are so many recipes and “how to” videos out there on how to cut and prepare fruits, veggies and other healthy foods into this artful, creative, colorful culinary masterpiece. Make the food more appealing by cutting and arranging them in creative ways on yours and your child’s plate. This technique is not only effective but it is also a good way to relax and focus your attention into something that is more fun. This is also a fun activity with your kids if they are old enough.

Tip #5 – Shake it, Drink it

Last but not least, who doesn't love, drinks, smoothies and shakes? They are easy to prepare and so fun and yummy to eat. Who says healthy has to be boring? Below are some ideas for healthy smoothies and beverages that you can prepare for yourself and your kids.

Water

Water should be the main drink served to kids at snack times. Water satisfies thirst and does not have sugar or calories.

Seltzer

Carbonated drinks like seltzer, sparkling water, and club soda are healthy options. They do not contain the sugars, calories, and caffeine of sodas. Serve them alone or try making “healthy sodas” by mixing them with equal amounts of 100% fruit juice.

Low-Fat and Fat-Free Milk

Milk provides key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D. Choose fat-free (skim) or low-fat (1%) milk to avoid the heart-damaging saturated fat found in whole and 2% (reduced-fat) milk. It is best to serve fat-free versions of chocolate, strawberry, or other flavored milks to help balance the extra calories coming from added sugars.

Fruit Juice

Try to buy 100% fruit juice and avoid the added sugars of juice drinks, punches, fruit cocktail drinks, or lemonade. To find 100% juice, look at beverage nutrition labels for the percentage of the beverage that is juice. Orange, grapefruit, and pineapple juices are more nutrient-dense and are healthier than apple, grape, and pear juices.

Shakes

Just mix and fruits (frozen or fresh) with milk and/or yogurt, served in a colorful, fun glass and cute straws and you have yourself a healthy and yummy drink.

If McDonald’s can make the change towards providing healthier options for children, so can you make an investment to your child’s healthier and better future.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Sunday July 27 2014, 3:46 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0