Tempt your children to eat healthy snacks

Donya Betancourt, Pediatrician, Sanur, Bali, drdonya@hotmail.com

The day has come to an end and you have a chance to clean the kitchen. As you empty the rubbish bin you realize that you are dealing with a collection of the day's snacks: half-eaten biscuits, empty cans of soft drinks and candy wrappers, and that is all there is, so you say to yourself: "That's it, tomorrow, no snacks!"

This is a scene that probably takes place a countless numbers of times in a countless number of homes worldwide. In reality, a no-snacks policy is unrealistic and doomed to fail. What's more it is contrary to your children's needs. We must accept that children's stomachs are smaller, so they eat less at mealtimes. Snacks provide a way for your children to recharge their batteries and sustain their energy until the next meal. Once parents grasp the importance of snacking they can introduce children to the idea of eating healthy foods instead.

The best choices for children's snacks are bread, fruits, vegetables low-fat dairy foods and meat products.

Children have different dietary needs from adults. Fat and cholesterol should not be restricted in children under the age of two, because they are necessary for growth and development. After the age of two, low-fat dairy products and leaner meats can be included in their daily diets.

Bread, cereal, rice and pasta offer a variety of healthy snacks, including crackers, breadsticks, pretzels, muffins and bagels.

Some suggested fruit and vegetable snacks are apples, bananas, oranges and tangerines, grapes, pears, unsweetened pasteurized fruit juices, tomato or vegetable juices, carrot sticks and celery sticks. Children are picky eaters and frequently don't care for vegetables. Fruit and vegetables have similar levels to vitamin and mineral values.

Fruits and vegetables can be interchanged, so if you have a child who does not eat many vegetables but eats adequate fruit, that's great.

Foods from the dairy section such as milk, yogurt and cheese also make great snacks. Low-fat milk, yogurt, low-fat cheese on bread, low-fat cottage cheese with fruit are good choices.

Now that you know what kinds of snacks are good for your children, the next step is to control when and where they snack. Offer snacks at specific times, so your children know when to expect them. Serve snacks about two hours before the next meal and eliminate snacking at other times. To encourage good eating habits, start placing healthy snacks in easy to reach and designated places in your cupboards and refrigerator.

Then the issue of how to entice children to enjoy more healthy foods becomes important and this may require experimenting with the following techniques:

* Offer comparable choices. Such as ice cream or yogurt, celery or carrots, graham crackers or soda crackers, apples or oranges.

* Offer appropriate portions. For preschool children, think small. Offer about a one-tablespoon serving for each year of age such as, four tablespoons of yogurt for a four year old. As children get older, they can eat bigger portions. Avoid large servings that decrease your child's appetite for the next meal.

* Offer variety. Select snacks from several areas in the basic food groups.

* Vary the presentation. Dress up fruits and vegetables for maximum appeal: celery with peanut butter, carrots with low-fat sour cream dip. Offer crackers with several varieties of cheese.

* Use multiple exposures. If your child rejects a new food, don't give up. Offer the food at other times along with familiar snacks. Don't punish children for refusing to eat certain foods. Use peer influence. Ask your children what their friends and classmates eat for snacks.

* Set an example. First take an inventory of your own snacking habits. By choosing healthy snacks, you encourage your children to do the same.