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Add cheese, peanutbutter or another protein to this apple for a snack that lasts much longer in the energy-boosting department.FeaturePics
By EMILY HERRINGTON
August 28, 2013
When you are filling your appointment book or smartphone with lists scheduling lessons, sports and all the other back-to-school activities, don’t forget healthy eating.
It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Good nutrition pays off in increased energy, better classroom focus and even helps fight the colds and viruses that head back to the classroom with the kids.
While few will argue against eating well, knowing what to eat and how to have it ready when you need it is another story altogether. It’s this story. We asked registered dietitians for help on the what and the how of healthy back-to-school snacks.
Stacey Richmond, registered dieititan who practices Integrative Nutrition at Kind Eating in West Barnstable, wants to change the way we think of snacks. Instead of considering a snack as, well, a snack, she says we should think of it as a mini meal. Foods marketed as snacks are often highly processed and dessert-like, she says, but a mini meal should be a smaller sized portion that contains multiple food groups.
Q: How is a mini meal different from a snack?
A: When people consider the concept of a meal, frequently they might reference more food groups like the food group of vegetables, the food group of fruits, dairy food group, protein food group. So we’re dealing more with food groups rather than, again, something that’s pre-made and packaged. … The function of a snack is not only nutrition but to allow (people) to be satisfied for a longer period of time and to hold them over until their next meal.
Q: So how many times a day and what times of day should kids be snacking?
A: … In general, I’d say to be mindful of not going too much beyond three to four hours between eating times.
Q: What about kids who have after-school activities or after-school sports? How should they schedule that?
A: There’s generally about a 15- to 30-minute break between school and the activity, and I do recommend bringing a snack for that period, before practice begins.
Q: What kind of snack would you recommend they bring?
A: A combination of dried fruits and nuts could be a snack. Whole-grain crackers with some type of nut butter. Cheese and crackers. A piece of fresh fruit with a cheese stick or some nuts. Those are a few ideas that last and don’t need to be refrigerated. Trail mix, too.
Q: How filling should these portions be?
A: A snack should be about a quarter to a half the normal amount at a meal.
Q: What are some practical snacks that parents can make themselves ahead of time without having to buy prepackaged?
A: Break it down into food groups. Cut a fresh vegetable, and the vegetables can be combined with any type of protein or healthy dip. So, vegetables can be with nut butters, cottage cheese, yogurt, hummus. You could combine some fresh fruit and/or vegetables with those kinds of dip. And I do coach a lot of clients on doing some food preparation early in the week. … It’s difficult to get people to think about washing and chopping vegetables before school. This is really more about behavior change and working on preparation earlier, like on a Sunday where vegetables are prepared and maybe put into plastic bags or containers ahead of time. Basically, it’s putting the effort into making your own pre-prepared foods.
Q: Do you have any more suggestions like that that parents can do ahead of time?
A: Making little deconstructed pizzas with rice cakes or whole-grain bread, some feta cheese and tomato slices. So that’s just a fun idea. … You could take a wheat tortilla, put some sun(flower seed) butter and put a banana in, and roll it up so it’s a little banana-sun butter-rollup.
Q: On the other hand, for parents who are buying snacks, what are some things they should look for on the nutrition label to be able to tell if something is healthy or not?
A: Look for products that are as low in sugar as they can find and as high in fiber as they can find.
There are a lot of alternatives now to typical grain products that you can find in the health foods section of the market where they use better quality ingredients that might be sourced and created organically. Less sugar, less chemicals. So finding products that might be labeled as organic – it doesn’t guarantee they’re healthy, but it’s a great way to steer yourself toward better ingredients. Having a product with less than three grams of sugar but more than three grams of fiber would be fantastic.
Q: When kids are snacking, what should they have to drink?
A: Water. … Liquid nutrition beverages are off the charts in providing low nutrition, empty calories. For all beverages outside of meals, I recommend water. If somebody wants something a little bit more exciting, I give them seltzer with fresh fruit in it, citrus fruit – lemon, orange, lime. Putting a splash of juice in for color is a nice way to have a fizzy beverage without it being a diet soda, that I’m not a fan of at all, or any other regular soda beverage.
Q: What about the mix-in packs of flavored powder?
A: I’m definitely not a fan of those products, although I know people consume them, so I try to be user-friendly and encourage people to practice using half the packet instead of using the whole packet if they find themselves really wanting that flavor or that experience, and fairly soon after doing a half a packet, their taste buds adapt, and a whole packet seems like too much.
Kim Ferreira, registered dietitian and Mass in Motion New Bedford coordinator, recommends making snacks fun and involving the kids whenever possible.
Q: What advice would you offer to parents regarding healthy snacking?
A: If you can get your kids involved as much as possible and make it fun for the kids, then I think it gets the kids more apt to eat the snack and gives them more personal responsibility, and they’re a little bit more invested in the snack because they helped to make it with the parents.
I think it’s important to find ways to make snacks fun using familiar foods, especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Instead of just sliced apples and peanut butter, there’s ways you can make a smiley face out of it where you put peanut butter on two apple slices and put raisins in the middle and it actually looks like a smiley face. Kids are more prone to eat things that look fun and exciting.
Another great example that I’ve actually used in an after school program is a fruit and veggie sushi. You take a whole wheat tortilla, you spread it with peanut butter or apple butter or hummus, and then you slice fruit or vegetables in it, and you roll it up and slice it. It’s colorful, it disguises the fruits and vegetables – especially the vegetables, which can be a lot more challenging for kids to eat.
Q: What are some other ways that kids can be involved?
A: Making things that, again, are practical and simple. One of my favorite snacks is to make your own trail mix. The parents’ responsibility is to purchase healthy, balanced food. This snack is great because kids can make it themselves. Take the small Ziploc bags … You definitely want to have a whole grain in there, so I would suggest maybe one of their favorite whole-grain cereals, whether it’s mini shredded wheats or Cheerios. You could do whole-grain pretzels, you could pop popcorn. Depending on food allergies, you could add any kind of nut or seed, along with dried fruit like banana chips or dried cranberries or raisins. You could have whole-grain things like Goldfish that at least have a little bit of a salty flavor. I know kids love to have sweet things, so maybe adding in a little bit of chocolate chips.
Q: What are some common issues you see in kids’ snacking?
A: A big piece of it is really the choices and the portion. … Really trying to relay to kids why (certain) foods are important and making those types of foods available on a daily basis so that these foods start to become part of their day.
I think one of the challenges is that a lot of times, kids are eating snacks that are really considered treats. So distinguishing between a snack and a treat – a snack is really designed to break that gap between your meals, and they should be foods that are a part of the major food groups like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean protein and fats. A lot of kids are essentially eating treats — cookies and cakes and chips. Those play a role, but those need to be emphasized on an occasional basis. Snacks are what kids should be getting in every day.
Q: About how many food groups should be addressed in a proper snack?
A: A carbohydrate and a protein – that would make a great snack. While a lot of us just grab a piece of fruit on the go, and that’s great, but it’s great to include a protein source. So instead of just a piece of fruit, adding some nuts with it or throwing some peanut butter on it, or having a Greek yogurt with it or a cheese stick. Because the carbohydrates are going to fuel your body, and the protein and a little bit of fat is what’s going to sustain that energy so you’re not hungry in another hour.
Q: What are some ways that you can “make over” a traditional meal to up its nutritional value? What are some little tweaks you can make every day?
A: Especially when it comes to kids, introducing whole grains can be a really big challenge. Kids tend to love pasta, so an example would be, if you’re going to be serving spaghetti, cooking half of the noodles with whole wheat and half regular so that you’re starting to introduce the new flavor without going full-on overboard with the whole grains.
And sneaking in the vegetables whenever you can. Like a sauce – chopping up vegetables or using frozen vegetables. A challenging comment I hear a lot is that fruits and vegetables are very expensive. But if you (use) frozen fruits and vegetables, they can easily be incorporated into casseroles or salads. And if you can find a vegetable or fruit that’s a similar color to what you’re making and you chop it up really fine, sometimes it allows it to go by a little easier with the child.
But if you’re talking about young children, it’s important to remember that they need to try things several times – 10 to 12 times – to really be able to allow the body to make a clear decision of whether or not they like it. It’s important for parents to keep trying.
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