Most children are unable to eat enough at a single sitting to keep going until their next meal, so snacks constitute an important part of your child’s nutritional intake. This is especially true of young children and those going through growth spurts. Evaluate your child’s nutritional intake over several days and use snacks as an opportunity to fill nutritional gaps. Create snacks containing foods from at least two of the four food groups. For example, if your child has not been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, offer veggies and dip served with a glass of milk, or consider a fruit smoothie with a whole grain muffin. 

SNACKING KNOW-HOW
For younger children, snacks should be offered at planned times and be evenly spaced between meals to ensure they have an appetite for the next meal. For toddlers and preschoolers, three small meals and three snacks a day are appropriate. There’s no need for concern if they choose to skip or pick at a meal, because the next scheduled snack isn’t too far away. Older children will need three meals plus one to three additional snacks.

As children approach the middle school and teenage years, they’ll begin to make their own snacks. At this point, be sure that a variety of healthy choices is available. When stocking your kitchen, represent each of the four food groups. Stock your fridge with a variety of low-fat cheeses, yogurt and milk. Keep prepared vegetable sticks sitting in cold water, ready to go. Along with a tempting dip, this will encourage your children to eat more veggies. If your children won’t eat vegetables, try orange fruits such as mangoes, apricots, cantaloupe and papaya as they are rich in vitamin A, which may be difficult to get in a vegetable-deficient diet. Vitamin A is essential for the healthy growth and maintenance of skin, eyes, bones and teeth.

Have good quality fruit and vegetable juices in the fridge and a bowl of pre-washed fruit on the counter. Nut butters, trail mix, hummus, nuts and hard-boiled eggs are convenient snacks providing excellent sources of protein. Stock your pantry with a variety of whole grain breads, muffins and cereals. Choose baked snack foods rather than fried and offer air popped popcorn. Always read labels of baked goods carefully as many contain unwanted trans-fats. 

Home-baking is an excellent way to eliminate trans-fats and other unwanted additives found in many commercially prepared g-oods and helps demonstrate appropriate portion size. Chances are your homemade cookies are smaller than store-bought ones. Try making your own granola bars, muffins and cookies. Take comfort in knowing that a snack such as two oatmeal raisin cookies served with a glass of milk is approximately one serving of grain products and one serving of milk and alternatives.

When it comes to snack foods, moderation is the key and your job is to provide guidance. Eliminating all goodies might encourage children to overindulge when the opportunity arises. As children grow, they are constantly bombarded with less than ideal food choices, so they need to learn how to make healthy decisions themselves. 

WHAT’S NORMAL EATING FOR A TEEN?
During the teenage years, as parental influence declines and peer influence increases, teenagers become increasingly independent. It’s normal for them to make poor choices. Many eat frequently at fast food restaurants, consume large quantities of non-nutritious snacks and choose soda pop instead of milk. 

Remember that ‘pigging out’ on junk food and feeling ill as a consequence is a learning experience. Eventually, as teens mature, they’ll realize this isn’t a great way to eat, especially if healthy habits are the norm at home. To keep your teenager on track, eat together as a family as often as possible. Resist the temptation to harp on ’bad‘ choices and continue to lead by example.

Now available in stores, this new book offers 150 nutritious and delicious recipes for your family – even your teens.



NUTRITIOUS SUMMER TREAT 
Popsicles and creamsicles made with your child’s favourite juice are a healthy alternative to sugar-loaded store-bought varieties.   H&L

Raspberry Creamsicles 1 lb fresh or frozen raspberries 1/2 cup Balkan-style plain yogurt (above 3% MF) 1/2 cup milk 2 tbsp liquid honey (approximately) If using frozen raspberries, defrost them Place raspberries in a food processor and purée Strain raspberries with a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds. This should produce approximately 1-1/4 cups raspberry purée Place raspberry purée back in food processor and blend with yogurt and milk Add just enough honey to sweeten the fruit and blend well Pour into popsicle moulds and freeze. Yield: Approximately 12 Popsicles

Excerpted from The Good Food Book for Families. Copyright © 2008 Brenda Bradshaw and Cheryl Mutch. Published by Random House Canada. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher.
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