Childhood Obesity Project

After School Snacks

Cheryl A. Metheny, RD/LDN. CDE, CLC, Coordinator, Diabetes Prevention and Control Program.

The eating habits of children can affect their physical growth, school work, and overall health. Along with eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, an after-school snack can be an added bonus. Children should be eating fruits, veggies, and whole grains each day to grow properly. Having these types of foods ready for them after school can help them reach the servings of fruits, veggies, and grains needed in a day.

Sometimes it can be a hard to get children to eat healthy snacks if they are not fun and creative. Children tend to want snacks that are full of sugar and fat (like chips or candy) because they taste good, and don’t require help to prepare. They key is to have lots of healthy options when they get home from school. This way they are not searching through the kitchen for other foods. One idea is to have an “after school spot” where they can keep their food items to make snacks.

Try keeping items in on hand like bananas, apples, yogurt, whole grain crackers, cheese stick, and veggies like celery and carrots. You can use those basic items to make fun snacks like “ants on a log” which is simply celery sticks (which you can pre-chop), peanut butter, and raisins. For a dessert scoop frozen yogurt on two whole grain crackers with a banana! Eating healthy after school snacks will not only fight a growling stomach but also sneak in some added nutrition.

For more ideas visit www.eatright.org and search for 25 Healthy Snacks for Kids