HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury
Snacking for children
He kai kinikini pai mō ngā tamariki
Snacks can help curb children's hunger and provide an energy boost between meals. But it's important to remember that snacks are not meals. Your child should arrive at meals hungry and ready to eat, not full from snacking.
The trouble with most popular children's snacks, like biscuits, cakes, chocolate and thickshakes, is that they're sugary and fatty. Or they're salty and fatty like crisps, movie popcorn, instant noodles and crackers. If your child eats lots of these foods, they can end up putting on weight. Snacks that are sweet and chewy such as lollies, dried fruit and fruit leathers stick to your child's teeth and can cause tooth decay.
Snacks do not need to come in packets. You can easily and cheaply make them at home.
Snack ideas
Fruit ideas
- A piece of fruit.
- Frozen fruit such as grapes, peeled mandarin segments or a banana. Spear a peeled banana with a wooden ice block stick and freeze it.
- A fruit platter with yoghurt to dip the fruit into.
- Fruit kebabs. Put cubes of fruit onto bamboo skewers.
- A homemade fruit smoothie. For one serving, put ¾ cup milk, ¼ cup yoghurt, 1 banana and ½ cup canned peaches (in juice) or frozen raspberries into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
Vegetable ideas
- Chopped vegetables such as capsicum (pepper), carrot, celery with hummus, cottage cheese or a yoghurt-based dip.
- Wholegrain crackers with hummus and sliced tomato or thinly sliced cheese.
- A bowl of pumpkin or other vegetable soup.
- Leftover baked vegetables such as potato, kumara or taro.
Other ideas
- Plain popcorn.
- A glass of low- or reduced-fat milk (green, yellow or light blue top).
- Toasted wholegrain bread topped with mashed banana, sliced tomato, hummus or peanut butter.
- A pottle (125 g) of yoghurt.
- A hard-boiled egg.
- Weet-Bix with milk.
More tips for smart snacking
- Get your children involved. Create a list of healthy snacks together and stick it on the fridge.
- Lighten your workload by cutting up extra vegetables at dinner time for snacks the next day. Make a big bowl of fresh fruit salad for dessert. The leftovers can be used for the after-school snack the next day.
- Do not let your child graze between meals. A healthy snack mid-morning and after school is all they need.
- Offer your child a choice. For example, "you can have yoghurt, or a glass of milk and a piece of fruit." This helps them feel like they have some control over what they eat and can help to avoid battles at snack times.
- Serve snacks on a plate. Encourage your child to sit down to eat without distractions like the TV or other devices.
- Choose water instead of sweetened drinks and eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
- Keep chocolate, biscuits, cakes, muesli bars, chips and lollies as occasional foods. Your child shouldn't eat these foods every day. But banning them can make your child want them more and lead them to seek them out when they're away from home. Buy them occasionally and enjoy them together.
Munch and crunch platter
This is a great way to share food with your whānau/family.
Choose a few different foods together. This could include cut-up vegetables or fruit, cherry tomatoes, mandarin segments, cubed cheese, hard boiled eggs, crackers, and so on.
To save money, choose vegetables and fruit that are in season.
For more healthy and tasty snack recipes, see Snacks from Healthy Kids.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed September 2021.
Review key: HIHEC-62690
