Great Eating Tips for Busy Families: In Between Meals…

by Dr. Cristine Wood

• Plan for snacks, but don’t allow constant grazing of food. Use fresh fruits and vegetables (carrots, celery with peanut butter, any fruits) as part of the snacks and use less processed foods.
• Don’t use snacks to occupy bored children and don’t offer a constant array of snacks in the car. Kids will associate car rides or boredom with eating.
• Time the snacks so they are not too close to meals. If kids are begging for food after school and right before dinner is ready, offer them salad or carrot sticks to eat.
• Keep healthy food choices handy. Have fruits out on the kitchen counter. Cut up vegetables and have them front and center in the refrigerator.
• Keep treat foods out of sight. Keep candy in an area where they are out of reach for children. Foods that are out of sight will not be eaten as readily (by the children or the adults!)
• If you buy bulk food or snacks, break it down into smaller serving sizes in plastic bags. Everyone is more likely to eat more out of big bag of food, then when it is portioned as a single serving. Serve smaller portions in a bowl or plate rather than allowing eating out of bags.
• Make sure they drink plenty of water. Juice and soda are empty calorie choices. When offering juice, make sure it is 100 percent juice and not just high fructose corn syrup with water. Recommendations are for less than 6 ounces of 100 percent juice per day for ages 1 to 6 years, and less than 12 ounces per day for children ages 7 to 18 years.
• Work on getting kids to get their “five a day.” If you offer a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal and snack, your kids will get their five a day.
• Put snack choices in 3 groups: anytime, sometime and occasional. Anytime snacks would be fruits and vegetables and low-fat yogurt; Sometime snacks would be whole-grain crackers, cheese, and nuts; Occasional snacks would be chips, cookies, or candy. Make a list, post and make sure kids understand when and how often it is appropriate to eat these snacks. If they want a snack close to dinner, tell them it is time for an anytime snack.
• Use a smoothie as a healthy snack. Put a combination of fresh fruit (frozen berries, grapes, bananas, etc.), 3 scoops of USANA Nutrimeal®, fresh vegetable juice (Naked Juice Green Machine®), and water in a blender to make a wholesome smoothie.

Great Eating Tips for Busy Families is a blog series written by Dr. Christine Wood, a practicing pediatrician and author of How to Get Kids to Eat Great and Love It! For more information, please visit www.kidseatgreat.com. For additional posts in the series, please click here.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease

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