Healthy Snacks For Kids
April 30, 2012
•Le Cordon Bleu
•St. Louis
• 0 Comments
Healthy Snacks For Kids
Parents always worry about their kids’ health – are they getting all their nutrients even though they refuse to eat their veggies? Even parents that do not particularly watch their own dietary habits will attempt to have their kids make wiser choices. It’s a natural part of parenting; we always want our kids to have more than we did.
But with so many shall we say, less-than-nutritious-but-so-much-more-visually-appealing choices of snacks on the market today, how can parents create healthy snacks their kids will eat?
Well, to be frank, kids will eat whatever you provide for them within certain parameters, and this is normal. If you put the common junk-foods like chips, sodas, and candy in your cupboard, it is highly likely that the kids will choose these before choosing the healthier snacks you have acquired. So what is the solution? You can read up on the subject or even go to cooking school to learn about healthy cooking and nutrition.
Some parents have, with considerable success, stocked only healthy snacks like trail mixes containing large quantities of nuts and dried fruits. If these are the only snacks the kids see their number one examples partaking of, their parents, the kids will naturally follow suit. Kids will watch their own parents eat. Even when they are very young they seem to want whatever the parent is having. Hence, if you have a soda, your kid wants soda. If you drink juice, he will want juice.
Set an Example
In large part, the goal of the parents to get their kids to eating healthy snacks is simplified greatly if the parents set the proper example. Without this example, kids will make their own choices independent of foreknowledge, and will likely go with that which tickles their taste buds the most, usually highly salted, highly sugared, chocolaty treats.
Much of who we become is conditioned by those around us. This is a fact proven by science many years ago and holds true today. So if we start our kids early eating healthy snacks, when they are older it is most likely they will continue or return to that path.
Of course, eventually, our kids will come into contact with many of the less healthy snacks and likely enjoy these. What can be done to further reinforce their healthy-snack training?
Have Fun
Do just like the big companies do: Make the snack fun. Some people cut carrots, broccoli, and other such veggies into fun shapes before serving. What little boy doesn’t love to bite the head off a monster, even one that mom has created? If making cake or cookies, why not use fresh, organic produce such as zucchini (as in zucchini bread) or oats (in cookies).
Another thing that can be done is to get the kids involved in creating their own snacks. Have a day each week when the kids help bake some kind of special snack, or cut the veggies and fruits. In so doing, you not only strengthen their desire to eat their creations now, but to continue the habit well into adulthood.
Recap
As a recap, here are some suggestions for easy review.
- Set an example – Kids will eat what you eat
- Limit Choices – They will eat what you provide
- Make it Fun – Fun snacks tend to get eaten
- Teach them – Kids who learn healthy habits tend to continue healthy habits
- Hands on – Let them have a role in creating some of their own snacks, this makes if fun and teaches them at the same time
- Get educated - If you want to learn more about preparing healthy snacks and managing your own diet as well as your children’s -- check out cooking classes in offered by professionals in Missouri culinary schools.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in St. Louis. Le Cordon Bleu College of
Culinary Arts in St. Louis offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in the St. Louis, Missouri
area. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/St-Louis for more information.
Find disclosures on graduation rates, student financial obligations and more at www.chefs.edu/disclosures. Le Cordon Bleu® and the Le Cordon Bleu logo are registered trademarks of Career Education Corporation. Le Cordon Bleu cannot guarantee employment or salary. Credits earned are unlikely to transfer.