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To keep children healthy and help protect
them from developing certain diseases later in life, it is recommended that children (and
adults, for that matter!) consume at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day.
To meet your goals, it's helpful to add fruit and vegetables to snacks.
Make sure that food contains more than calories. The snack should also provide such
nutrients as fiber, vitamins or minerals. It should contain foods from more than one food
group, if possible, and serve to complement or supplement the child's meals. For example,
if the child does not eat fruit or vegetables at mealtime, provide these foods at
snacktime.
As a child's care provider, set a good example on your child by eating healthy food
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Children's diets can contain some foods that are higher in sugar and fat as long as the
total diet is well balanced and the foods from all four food groups are consumed in the
appropriate number of servings.
When involved in preparing the snack, the child is more likely to eat it.
Sweetened snack: |
- For a dessert, use a blender or food
processor to blend 1 cup of your child's favourite fresh or frozen fruit with 6 ounces of
nonfat vanilla flavored or plain yogurt.
- Make a fruit juice fizz from a
half-and-half mixture of fruit juice and mineral water or club soda.
- To make unsweetened cereal and milk
even more nutritious as a snack, add sliced fresh or frozen fruit, such as berries,
peaches or bananas.
- When you bake cookies or quick
breads, substitute 1/2 of all the white flour with whole wheat flour; add 1/2 to 1 cup of
oatmeal; decrease the sugar by 1/3 and add raisins, dates or coconut.
- Make breads that contain fruits or
vegetables, such as banana, zucchini, carrot, pumpkin or apple bread.
- Make a peanut butter and fruit
sandwich, substituting banana slices, raisins or chopped apple for the jelly.
- For variety, you can substitute a
muffin or bagel for sliced bread.
- Cut fresh fruit and dip into lemon
or other fruit flavoured nonfat or lowfat yogurt.
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"For non-sweetened snacks, check next
week's tips"....... |
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