Healthy Snacks = Healthier Kids

WELLNESS | by KAVITA VARMA-WHITE

WITH FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA leading the charge on childhood obesity, there’s finally a spotlight on what is becoming (pardon the pun) an extremely huge issue among young American kids. The stats are pretty sobering: Thirty percent of U.S. kids are overweight or obese, as measured by body-mass index (BMI); among black and Hispanic children, the number is 50 percent. Add to that a recent study which found that kids in the U.S. snack three times a day, and usually on unhealthy food such as chips and candy.

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As parents, there is plenty we can do about this. We are the ones filling our refrigerators and pantries, and we are the ones deciding what’s on our kids’ plates for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lately our family has been trying hard to make snacking a healthier endeavor. After polling friends on what healthy snacks they feed, I found a slew of ideas to try out on my own kids, who are 7 and 10.

Here are their top three choices, which we now have in the house at all times and have become real “go-to” snacks.

Homemade Trail Mix
Mix together whole-wheat pretzels, wheat Chex, raisins, chocolate chips and nuts. The sweet and crunchy mix is satisfying and is high in energy-boosting protein.

Flavored Popcorn
Pop a bag of low-fat or fat-free popcorn in the microwave, then spritz with olive-oil spray. Season with parmesan cheese or cinnamon and sugar.

Veggies & Dip
Make your own sour-cream-and-onion dip by mixing nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt with one packet of Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix. Serve with dipable veggies like carrots, celery sticks, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.