Snack Successfully at School
By Donna Kostiew
We all want our children to be successful throughout their years of schooling, but have you ever considered the impact that snacking can have on that success? Most schools have now adopted a policy where they will let children snack throughout the day. Research has shown that snacking -- healthy snacking -- during school can lead to better nutritional choices throughout a child’s life and increases their energy and their ability to focus while in class.
Smart Snacking, Successful Schooling
There are many reasons why snacking at school is an important component of your child’s day. Here are a few of them.
- Offers a chance to refuel the body
- Maintains or boosts energy
- Increases the ability to focus
- Sharpens academic skills
- Fills in nutrients that may have been missing from breakfast or lunch
Snacking every few hours over the course of their day is important for children mainly because their stomachs are smaller and they may not be able to stay full until their next big meal. It is important though to make sure they are consuming healthy snacks and not ones that are high in sugar or fat.
Healthy Snack Options
Most schools will have a restriction on any kind of nuts brought into their classrooms, so we won’t be adding them to this list, but if your child can eat them, they would be a great at-home snack to offer. Here are some other options for healthy snacking during school hours.
- Fruit (especially hardier ones that won't get damaged in a backpack)
- Cut vegetables
- Protein bars (watch the sugar content on these)
- Rolled-up lunch meat
- Squeezable applesauce
- Organic wheat crackers
- String cheese
Don’t Forget the Healthy Beverage
Avoid giving your child juices or soda that are high in sugar. Water should be the first choice of beverages served during snack time, but there are some other good options too.
- Low-fat or fat-free milk
- Soy milk, almond milk, and rice drinks (keep an eye on the sugar content)
- Sparkling water
You can encourage healthier snacking at school by offering the same types of snacks at home. Keep your kitchen stocked with fruits, vegetables, and high-protein snacks and start buying less of those super-salty and ultra-sugary sweets and beverages that line the grocery store shelves. Serving healthy snacks to your child is important to developing a taste for such items and for supporting lifelong healthy eating habits. It is also a great way to start a foundation of health that will follow your children throughout their lives and that will have an incredibly positive impact on their overall wellness.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Dallas, Tex.