Say €snacks€ and parents usually tend to automatically reach for junk food - chocolate covered doughnut, salt-laden chips, or candy bars. While these may all sound scrumptious for your children, most snack food are the main source of fat and cholesterol harmful for their health.
Failing to monitor your kids' snacks may lead to lack of nutrition and alarming increase in weight. In choosing snacks, the nutritional value, calorie content, and the child's activity should be considered. Without their parents supervising them on the right food items, the kids will most likely choose snacks that may be delicious, but are harmful to their health.
Contrary to the hype that a snack is a child's €break€ from the nutritious diet, it should in fact supplement the nutrients they have missed at mealtime. Since children are growing, they need food that are loaded with vitamins and minerals. These include protein for their muscles and brain, vitamin C to strengthen their immune system, and vitamin B for healthy body systems.
Covering at least 20 percent of children's everyday diet, snacks not only satisfy their hunger pangs between meals, but also provide energy that they need.
Knowing the importance of a child's snacks therefore, parents should be aware of some things. For one, they should plan very well what snacks they will provide for their kids. Preparing food on impulse lead to unhealthy indulgences.
Just like every meal, snacks should be given at regular times. Often, they are offered an hour or two before regular meals.
Since most snacks are loaded with fat and sugar, parents should take time in reading nutrition facts labels. This is your key to know the ingredients contained in the item that you will buy, as well as the nutrients provided by it.
Experts say that parents should include their children in planning snacks. By listing down possible choices and letting your kids choose, you will not only prevent unnecessary debates over snack times, but also teach him the importance of nutritious food items.
While teaching your kids how to develop good eating habits, research shows that you should not totally ban food containing calories, fat or sugar because it will look more appealing to the child. You may give them these kinds of food in moderate amounts so they won't feel deprived.
In planning a menu of nutritious snacks for your kids, consider the following: Fruits, fruit juices, whole grain bread, cereals, raisin bagels, bran muffins, eggs, peanut butter, yogurt, raisins and peanuts.
Failing to monitor your kids' snacks may lead to lack of nutrition and alarming increase in weight. In choosing snacks, the nutritional value, calorie content, and the child's activity should be considered. Without their parents supervising them on the right food items, the kids will most likely choose snacks that may be delicious, but are harmful to their health.
Contrary to the hype that a snack is a child's €break€ from the nutritious diet, it should in fact supplement the nutrients they have missed at mealtime. Since children are growing, they need food that are loaded with vitamins and minerals. These include protein for their muscles and brain, vitamin C to strengthen their immune system, and vitamin B for healthy body systems.
Covering at least 20 percent of children's everyday diet, snacks not only satisfy their hunger pangs between meals, but also provide energy that they need.
Knowing the importance of a child's snacks therefore, parents should be aware of some things. For one, they should plan very well what snacks they will provide for their kids. Preparing food on impulse lead to unhealthy indulgences.
Just like every meal, snacks should be given at regular times. Often, they are offered an hour or two before regular meals.
Since most snacks are loaded with fat and sugar, parents should take time in reading nutrition facts labels. This is your key to know the ingredients contained in the item that you will buy, as well as the nutrients provided by it.
Experts say that parents should include their children in planning snacks. By listing down possible choices and letting your kids choose, you will not only prevent unnecessary debates over snack times, but also teach him the importance of nutritious food items.
While teaching your kids how to develop good eating habits, research shows that you should not totally ban food containing calories, fat or sugar because it will look more appealing to the child. You may give them these kinds of food in moderate amounts so they won't feel deprived.
In planning a menu of nutritious snacks for your kids, consider the following: Fruits, fruit juices, whole grain bread, cereals, raisin bagels, bran muffins, eggs, peanut butter, yogurt, raisins and peanuts.
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