Healthy Snacks for Kids

Snacks are an important part of daily nutritional intake. Here are some ideas to get you thinking about healthy snacks to offer your kids. Choose one item from each column and offer a small portion size of each.

Vegetables/Fruits	Carbohydrates	Protein
Bell pepper strips Baby carrots Carrot sticks Cucumber slices Broccoli florets Celery sticks Zucchini sticks or slices Corn Grilled mushrooms Salsa Clementines Grapes Berries Cantaloupes Melon Pineapple Canned fruit in juice Applesauce (unsweetened) Banana Frozen fruit and juice bar Apples: whole or sliced Oranges Broth-based vegatable soup Pears Dried fruit of any kind Raisins	Whole wheat crackers (Triscuits) Saltines Goldfish Animal crackers Smart Pop or other healthy popcorn Fig Newtons Baked potato chips Graham crackers Ginger snaps Flavored rice cake Pretzels Pita (stuff with vegatbles) Flour tortilla Wheat Chex Cereal (low sugar/fat, high fiber) Whole wheat English muffin Whole wheat bread Low fat granola Bran muffin, low fat, small or 1/2	Peanut butter Almonds Peanuts Refried beans (vegetarian) Cheese slice or stick (low fat) Ham slice Skim milk Yogurt (low fat) Frozen yogurt (low fat) Milk shake (add fruit, low fat) Pecans Hummus

Additional Tips

Make fruit more interesting with a sprinkling of cinnamon or nutmeg. Make vegatbles more interesting with mustard, lemon juice, or fat free dips (ranch, bbq, etc.). Make both more interesting by giving it a cute presentation (use the food to make a face, an abject, or a holiday creation).
Keep liquid calories to minimum - water or 8 oz. fruit juice (you can mix the latter with selter to make a fruit juice spritzer, but this counts as a fruit) or skim milk (but this counts as a protein).
Current FDA guidelines for children are different depending on age, gender, and activity level. Visit www.mypyramid.gov for more information.
Always check with your health care provider before changing your nutritional intake. Consultation with a nutritionish can also be very helpful.