By Julie Stefanski MEd, RDN, CSSD, LDN, CDE

Unfortunately kids today are not eating enough fruits, vegetables, or high calcium foods and are getting more treat foods than necessary. It’s up to us as caregivers to make the smart choice at the grocery store or farmer’s market to keep our kids healthy at home.

A great concept, which was shared by Lisa Leake, blogger at 100 Days of Real Food is the idea that snacks should be thought of as a particular TIME of day to eat, not a particular TYPE of food to choose. Why not use snack time as a chance to catch your child up on the food groups they’re falling short in? If you’re always offering a fried snack food, baked good, or brightly colored candy option, consider limiting these treats to one specific day of the week. Offer that treat less often and try switching to a healthier option the other days.

A good place to start is by reading the ingredients in the snacks you’re buying. The less ingredients, the better. Raisins are a one ingredient winner, while fruit flavored gummy snacks offer little in the way of good nutrition. Kids that have to eat an early lunch before 11 am are likely to be absolutely famished by 4:00. Instead of turning to a processed snack food, why not offer part of a meal? A child who is home alone and is physically hungry is likely to go through several small 100 calorie snack packs at one time. Instead of prepackaged snacks, buy some real food options and make it easy for your child to see them first and choose them most often.

Here are some easy real food options to try:
• Try a banana, apple, or celery with nut butter on it. If food allergies are an issue consider sunflower seed butter. Skip the chocolate flavored spreads most days.
• Make a fun trail mix with some dried fruit, low sugar cereal, seeds, and nuts. Kids will often eat the less preferred add-ins if there’s a little fun thrown in.
• Consider offering part of the supper meal. Start with an appetizer of raw veggies like grape tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, or pepper strips dipped in a dip make with Greek yogurt as a base or hummus.
• Pair cheese with fruit like grapes, apple slices, or melon. Add a few whole grain crackers on the side. It’s easy to make a fun Kabob with cheese and fruit on a stick. If your kids aren’t big fans of fruits and veggies cut the fruit into cubes and build towers with the food to help them feel comfortable interacting with the fruits or veggies they don’t like. Even if they don’t eat those foods touching them and interacting with them builds familiarity and is a step towards eating those foods in the future.
• Make a quesadilla if supper is going to be more than 1.5 to 2 hours away. Use 1 tortilla, add a bit of shredded cheddar cheese and a few canned black beans or kidney beans. Flip half the tortilla over against itself and microwave for 50 to 60 seconds. Cut in wedges and offer a fresh salsa on the side. Utilize a gluten free tortilla and dairy free cheese if sensitivities are an issue.
• Water is the best drink for health. Skip the sugar containing sports drinks, juice, and flavored items and offer tap water. Sometimes sweet cravings come from the simple need to drink more water.

If recreational sports are planned right after school check out Real mom nutrition blogger and Registered Dietitian Sally Kuzemchak’s great suggestions regarding recreational sports and snack options. http://www.realmomnutrition.com/2013/03/15/soccer-season-is-here-are-you-ready-snacktivists/

Julie Stefanski is a PA Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics PR/Social Media Chair and an effective food detective at Leg Up Farm in Mt. Wolf, PA and Leg Up Farmers Market, a full service natural foods grocery store in York, PA.  As a reviewing editor for Nutrition Dimension, a division of OnCourse Learning, she makes sure that the continuing education courses provided to healthcare professionals are not only interesting, but are based on evidenced based research.  You can find her on social media @foodhelp123.