Healthy After School Snacks
Snacking is Important to Proper Growth of Tweens
Eating a well-balanced diet means making good food choices. Tweens need a little nudge in this area, as junk food may reign high on their list. Help them eat healthy.
Tweens are at an age where they are simply famished when they get home from school, and they head right to the kitchen for a snack. Instead of letting them pick out junk food, why not offer them delicious, wholesome snacks that will actually help sustain them until dinner? Here is a list of some healthy after school snacks that you might consider.
Healthy Snack Choices
Healthy kid snacks include a long list of items, but tweens definitely like to eat sandwiches of different types as a snack after school. Many kids prefer eating sandwiches as an after school snack because they are easier to eat and make them feel full quickly. Vegetable and peanut butter sandwiches can act as a wholesome snack, along with a cup of milk.
You can also try giving your tween some crackers and peanut butter. A salad is another good option. Fruit mixes, cookies, homemade muffins, yogurt, and fresh fruit with dip also act as good after school snacks. The important thing to remember is that the snack should be healthy in order to get your tween through until dinnertime.
Why Snacks are Important
Kids who are still growing need to eat a lot of healthy stuff to grow properly. If a tween does not get healthy food to eat, he or she can develop a weakness due to the lack of some particular ingredient in their diet. Parents need to pay all due attention towards the diet of their kids.
Although three square meals are important for your tween's health, after school snacks can be considered as one of the most important times to eat during the day, as well. Tweens need a certain amount of calories to help their growing bodies become strong, and to help them be able to build up their immune system, in order to fight colds and other illnesses.
Watch the Labels
When picking out healthy snacks for your tween from boxed foods, pay attention to the packaging labels. Just because a package says "all natural," doesn't mean that it truly is. All natural can mean a lot of sugar content. Sugar is a natural ingredient, but has many empty calories. It is natural, not nutritious.
Keep an Eye on Portions
Healthy snacks are the way to go, for sure. But, you still need to be careful about the portions that your child consumes. You can get too much of a good thing, and moderation is definitely key. Keeping a regular schedule of snacks and meals will go a lot further in helping your tween maintain a good body weight. And, serving the appropriate portions of snacks will help your tween adjust to this routine.
Chances are when your tween comes home after a day’s work in school they are really tired and hungry. This is the most important time that they are ready to listen to you about food. A healthy snack at this time not only will be satisfying for your child, but it will also be good for his or her health. Choose snacks that you can prepare easily and that your tween also likes. Make sure that you rotate the snacks properly to ensure a balanced diet.
