Healthy snacking

A quick refresher course on hints, tips and advice for helping your toddler snack happy and healthy…

There’s lots of information about snacks and your kids in this section

But if there’s anything else you want to know, contact us…

1. Why do toddlers need snacks? And how often?

Growing, active tots need constant refueling throughout their busy day – healthy, nutritious snacks help fill the gaps between mealtimes.

Toddlers require a different diet to children over 5 and adults. It must be higher in fat and lower in fibre (per Kg of body weight*) because they are endlessly whizzing around and burning up so many calories. Not only are they constantly on the go, from the minute they wake to when they crash in bed, they are also growing rapidly.

But, despite needing a varied and energy rich diet toddlers’ stomachs are only about 1/3^rd of the size of adults stomachs and therefore they cannot eat very much at one time – hence the need to constantly refuel.

So, how often should toddlers snack? According to the experts, it is recommended that toddlers should be offered 3 toddler–sized meals a day as well as 2 – 3 nutritious, healthy snacks. We have all seen what happens when they get hungry, they become tried, grumpy and lethargic (not nice!); toddlers need a regular drip, drip of healthy ‘topping-up’ snacks to keep them going.

*This means toddlers need, as a percentage of their diet, more fat and less fibre than older children and adults. It’s important to not over feed, toddlers are only small after all!

2. Fruit and veg make best snacks

What makes fruit and veg such great snack foods? Is it their ‘naturalness’, their yummy tastes or their sheer convenience?

fruit-and-veg

Fruit and vegetables are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals, including potassium, Vitamin C and folic acid – essential for growing bodies. They are also a great source of dietary fibre, which helps maintain a healthy gut (and prevent constipation!). They contain ‘no added anything nasty’, they provide natural sugars (& toddler friendly calories) and all the different shapes, colours, textures and tastes on offer really open up the world of good, honest food to a child’s future of healthy, happy eating.

Toddlers, like adults, are recommended to eat 5 different portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

For more information see: www.infantandtoddlerforum.org

3. What exactly IS a portion of fruit/veg?

All babies and toddlers are expected to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day.
Too much, too little? Do you know how to measure a ‘portion’?

The most commonly asked question and the answer is quite simple… it’s as much as they can easily hold in their hand (basically a handful!). It’s not a huge amount and certainly not 5 whole apples or carrots – this would be too much and they would end up spending a lot of time on the loo!

For more information see:
www.eatwell.gov.uk

4. Flavour, texture, colour, shape – how important are they?

As soon as you give your baby their first mouthful of solid food you are embarking on a journey that should lead to your child loving all types of food and then (hopefully!) enjoying a ‘fussy free’ future eating family foods and meals whether with you or their friends.

As weaning progresses from simple smooth purées through Stages 2 & 3 and then onto ‘real, grown-up’ food it is very important to give your toddler as many opportunities to experience as many different foods as possible: different shapes, colours, and textures and tastes.

Research shows that babies who eat a wide variety of different foods with strong natural flavours and textures will have a much broader and healthier diet later in life (read more here). It helps to educate their palette and develop positive eating habits for life. Therefore by offering lots of variety you will be helping to set up good eating habits for the rest of their life.

Toddlers will not always accept something new straight away but if you give them the chance to interact with food – play with it, helping prepare it etc – you have a much better chance of them accepting it. If they don’t accept it the first time just put it aside and try again a few days later.
Current thinking suggests you should try foods as many as 15 times before being confident they really don’t like it – they are just getting used to it.

5. Snack Ideas – Now we’re cooking!

Spend a little time in the kitchen with your little ones knocking up some tasty, home-made snacks

As well as enjoying our Kiddylicious snacks, how about you try a few home-made ideas – get your kids to help you make them, there’s nothing better than eating something you have made yourself.

Arrange slices, sticks, funky shapes etc of fruit, salad and veg (either raw or cooked) in a bowl or on a plate e.g. apples, banana, peach, plum, avocado, cucumber, carrot, celery, peas, green beans. Have fun arranging them to make pictures of faces, landscapes or animals.
Try bread or vegetable sticks with a dip e.g. hummus, guacamole, salsa. Put a couple of drops of food colouring in cream cheese to make wacky coloured dips.
Homemade pancakes are always fun – add some fruit and roll them up.
Cooked pasta – eat plain or coated in butter, grated cheese or a tiny bit of sauce. Try to buy multicoloured pasta to make it more visually exciting.
Many mums now use our Kiddylicious snacks as toppings on cupcakes or buns (we have some great photos of these on our Facebook page). So put your pinnies on and experiment with Wriggles for spiders legs or Smoothie melts as funny noses/ears/faces. Kids love baking (and cake!) and you will love that they will be getting a little fix of healthy fruit at the same time.

Remember to take some pics of your culinary masterpieces. Post them on our Facebook page – other mums would love to see them (and of course steal your fantastic ideas!).

6. Uh oh…! Snacks to avoid

Don’t be tempted – some things really are best avoided!

Shop bought bags of snacks that are NOT designed for toddlers. They are likely to be way too high in salt (which might damage the kidneys), sugar and fats e.g. crisps, and other salty snacks
Whole nuts – this may cause choking
Toddlers with parents, brothers or sisters who suffer from hay fever, asthma, eczema or food allergies should not have peanuts or peanut butter before they are 3 years old.

7. What other kinds of foods should toddlers eat?

Toddlers need variety. A diverse selection from the main 5 food groups is essential for a growing toddler.

Carbohydrates; e.g. rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, chapatti, cereals etc. This group should be offered at each meal. They can also be offered as a snack occasionally.
Protein; e.g. meat, fish, eggs, beans or pulses. This group should be offered at 2 – 3 meals per day.
Dairy; e.g. milk, yogurt, cheese. This group should be given 3 times a day either during a main meal or as a snack.
Fruit and vegetables; this group should be offered at each meal and they are ideal as snacks. You should aim for 5 different portions of fruit and veg a day – variety in this group is particularly important.
Foods and drinks high in fat and sugar; toddlers need more fat & sugar in their diet than adults (per kg of body weight) to give them all that extra energy, give daily, but be careful not give too much, they only have little bodies.