While meals make up most of a child's nutritional intake, most children eat at least one snack per day. While many of the most commonly offered kids' snacks tend to be of lower nutritional value than meals, snacks still can support or even enhance the child's overall healthy eating plan. Healthy snacks are an essential part of a growing child's diet.
Serving healthy snacks to children is vital to providing good nutrition, supporting lifelong healthy eating habits, and preventing costly and potentially disabling diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.
Snacks should be chosen not only based on students' interests and preferences but also on their nutritional needs. Moreover, snacks should not affect their appetite for the main meals.
Scheduled snacks served at the exact times every day give kids a sense of control and establish that snacks are available only. Offer two or three nutritious options and let kids choose.
If the right foods are offered at the correct times, snacks can play an essential role in managing kids' hunger and boosting nutrition. A well-timed snack can even out spikes in hunger and provide a much-needed energy boost between meals.

Some Tips for Having Healthy Snacks

• Teach the children to eat a rainbow of colors: Arrange the children's foods to show the beauty of fresh, brightly colored foods.

• Avoid processed foods and added sugars: Processed foods do not have many nutrients and often have a lot of added sugar and salt.

• Keep a range of healthy foods handy at home.

• Use snack times as a way to increase fruits and vegetable intake.

Most kids do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Snack times offer an excellent opportunity to increase access and exposure to these nutrient-dense foods. Consider pairing them up with dairy products or dairy substitutes (such as grapes and cheese), lean proteins (such as celery and peanut butter), or wholegrain cereals and bread (such as banana sandwich on whole grain bread).

Some Examples for School Snacks

• Fruits and Vegetables: Try lots of different fruits and vegetables and prepare them in various ways to find out what the kids like best.

• Healthy Grains (bread, crackers, and cereals.): Try to serve mostly whole grains, which provide more fiber, vitamins, and minerals than refined grains.

• Low-Fat Dairy Foods: Dairy foods are a great source of calcium, helping to build strong bones. However, dairy products also are the most significant source of artery-clogging saturated fat in kids' diets. To protect children's bones and hearts, make sure all dairy foods served are low-fat or fat-free.

• Nuts: Nuts are a healthy choice, but since nuts are calorie-dense, it is best to serve them along with another snack such as fruit.

Super Easy School Snacks

• Raisins and cheese sticks.

• Pre-made mini cheese cracker sandwiches with cherry tomatoes.

• Nut-free, if necessary, granola bars.

• Clementine oranges or Mandarin oranges and whole-wheat pretzels.

• Cottage cheese cups and apple chips.

• The apple chips can be found in the chip aisle at the grocery store or with dehydrated fruits.