Healthy Snacks That Are Kid-Tested and Approved

Toby Amidor is a registered dietician and Instructor at the Art Institute of New York City. She has a master's degree in clinical nutrition and dietetics from NYU and is currently working towards her doctorate in nutrition education.

"The most typical dangers with regards to typical snacks that kids request is that they get used to the highly processed, empty-calorie foods that have been associated with the increased risk of obesity", notes Toby. "Health concerns of overweight children include heart disease, sleep apnea and other breathing problems, bone and joint problems, diabetes, and several forms of cancer. Increased psychological disorders such as depression and low self-esteem also surface in overweight children along with psychosocial difficulties".

However, "snacks are essential to a child's diet", emphasizes the New York dietician. "Children are growing and feel hungry all the time". Toby's recommendations include putting in that school lunch bag an assortment of "healthy snacks that the child can choose from, like a banana, grapes, homemade "mix", cheese sticks or yogurt". Parents should choose "foods that are packed with the nutrients, vitamins, minerals that the growing child needs".

In addition, make sure that you "increase the healthy snacks slowly. A drastic change in the child's eating habits will not make them happy".

Her suggestions for snacks include:

1. Peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread;

2. Sliced apples and pretzels;

3. Dry mix of sesame seeds, raisins, and cheerios (or chex);

4. Whole wheat bread & low fat cream cheese with sliced green peppers;

5. Figs and dates.

Start Healthy Habits Early in Life

Amy Joy Lanou is an Assistant Professor, Department of Health and Wellness, at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. She authored Healthy Eating for Life for Children, and is a Senior Nutrition Scientist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "An overweight 5-year old often becomes an overweight teen. About 70 to 80% of overweight teens become overweight adults. Starting life with healthy eating (including snacking) habits usually translates into healthy habits later in life", says Amy. She emphasizes the importance of offering children "whole foods rather than highly processed foods as snacks. Focus on foods from plant sources – fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Choose snacks low in added sugar and fat". One example of a healthy snack that's ideal for parents and children: Amy's original recipe below for a tasty, healthy substitute for the traditional heavy-on-the-fat-and-sugar summertime milkshake.

Healthy Recipes for Kids

Summertime Freezie

2 cups frozen berries or peaches

1 Tbsp. orange juice concentrate

1 Tbsp. maple syrup

1–2 Tbsps. water or soymilk as needed to blend

Chili Bean Snack Mix

2 lbs. canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 butter flavored vegetable cooking spray

4 cups square rice cereal, or square wheat or corn cereal

2 oz. pretzel goldfish, or pretzel sticks 1/2 lb. mixed dried fruit, chopped

6 oz. dried pineapple chunks

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

2 Tbsps. worcestershire sauce, (reduced sodium optional)

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp. onion powder.

Exercise 2. Write down what habits you like and what you dislike. Fill in a table.

It's good and useful	It's junk food

Exercise 3. Imagine that you are writing an article for a popular magazine.

They asked you as a technologist to tell their readers about children's diet. Write down your recommendations. Give a title to your article.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS FOR READING

a) Read and translate the text with the help of a dictionary.

How Food Affects Mood

Everyone can benefit from understanding how food affects our mood

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food", wrote the eminent Greek physician Hippocrates during the dawn of western medicine. We took his advice. Thousands of years later we use chicken soup to nourish our bodies, yet we question whether the right food choices can heal our mind. Some people are sure.

Inspired by personal experience, Amanda Geary founded the UK's Food and Mood Project in 1998. "I started the Food and Mood Project following from my own experience of recovery from depression where I noticed that what I was eating was having an effect on my emotional and mental health", says Geary. "In 1998 I won an award from Mind, the UK's leading mental health charity, to start the Project and help others to explore the links between what we eat and how we feel".

The Food and Mood Project is extensive. Geary's fascination with the relationship between nutrition and mind has prompted a website, www.foodandmood.org, online support group, handbook, posters and large-scale survey. This recruited 200 individuals between the ages of 26 and 55 who lived in London or SE England. The results were substantial. Says Geary: "From the Food and Mood Survey results, those using this form of self-help found that cutting down or avoiding potential food stressors like sugar (80%), caffeine (79%), alcohol (55%) and chocolate (53%) and having more food supporters like water (80%), vegetables (78%), fruit (72%) and oil rich fish (52%) had the most beneficial effects on mental health".