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Cultivating the Habit of Eating Healthy At an Early Age

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Several studies show that healthy eating habits are more likely to stay with us if start in Childhood. Fried foods are easy to make and healthy, but have an adverse effect in the long term. Healthy Snacks for kids help prevent the chronic disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. Making your child understand the importance of eating healthy will introduce him to a lifelong good habit. If you are out of options on what to pack in snack box of your kids, which is healthy and tasty then we have got some ideas for you. But before we delve into healthy snacks for kids recipe, let us brief you on why we want you to feed your kids healthy food.

Benefits of Giving Healthy Snacks To The Kids

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For kids, both studying and playing along with other activities is important. In taking up one activity, your kids should not compromise on the other. However, they can only remain energetic so long as they eat healthy food. Since the number of hours kids remain active is higher, their nutrition requirement should compliment it. Giving them healthy snacks along with the regular meal ensures that the kid has a good option for those mid time hunger pangs.

They Keep the Kids Energetic

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As we all know that kids are likely to hog on whatever comes their way, be it burgers in the school, or french fries in the market. But, if they get a wholesome meal of healthy snacks, they will not have the constant urge to eat, and will remain energetic throughout the day.

Kids are Less Likely to Munch on Junk

Source www.parents.com

Nowadays, the commercialisation has even gripped the schools and colleges and often you will see junk food outlets within the premises, near the play area or hobby classes. Kids would tend to eat junk when they are hungry as we discussed they need to remain energetic. However, home-made healthy, non -messy snack would keep them away from these junk food outlets.

Supports their Mental Growth

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Multiple activities like hobby classes, extra tuitions and play drain the energy. Having superfoods like almonds or a granola bar can rejuvenate the kids and help in mental growth. Super foods like Almond are a rich source of Vitamin E which is known for preventing sun damage and cognitive decline.

Ten Healthy And Quick Snacks For the kids

While deciding on the snacks for the kids, make sure that it is non-messy and easy to carry. Keeping the same factors in mind, we have come up with 10 non-messy and healthy snacks that are quick to make and have decent shelf life

Banana Muffins

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Banana muffins are healthy, tasty and loved by the kids. Moreover, you can make these muffins much in advance and store for couple of weeks. Banana is a powerhouse for various essentials such as Vitamin C, potassium and manganese. While Vitamin C helps in building the immunity, potassium is good for heart and blood pressure. Manganese is good for skin. These super tasty and healthy muffins are also easy to make because you need locally sourced items.

Ingredients:

  • Ripe bananas
  • Whole wheat flour(preferably)
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • Milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon of lime juice

To give the perfect flavor, add a bit of vanilla essence. Bake the muffins and store it in the refrigerator. Just toss few in your kid’s snack box to keep him energetic throughout the day.

Fruit Juice

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Clearly one of the easiest and tastiest snacks in the world, kids love fruit juice. You can get fresh fruit juice made at home easily and give it in a bottle to your kid. Juices clearly take the top spot when it comes to healthy snacks for kids recipes quick. Depending on the fruits your kids like, you can bottle up juice for them. Kids love fruit juice because it takes less time than eating a fruit and we all know how kids are always in a hurry to play.

You might not have enough time to make them sit and have different fruits. In that case just go for mixed fruit juice which would ensure great health benefits and healthy extract of all the fruits. However, make sure that juices are freshly made at home rather than buying bottles available in the market. Bottled juices in the market have high content sugar as well as excessive preservative. As a result it might do more harm than good.

Baked Chocolate Cookies

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You cannot go wrong with chocolates when it comes to making healthy snacks for kids at school or anywhere, they go. Chocolate flavor is intense and therefore it can mask the flavor of a lot of other ingredients in the cookies. You can use whole wheat flour and dry fruits in the cookies to make it healthy. Addition of chocolate just gives the taste that kids love. So, while your kids will love the bakes chocolate cookies during their snack time, you can be assured that they are eating healthy.

These are also easy to make because you do not have to worry for any niche ingredient going into the recipe. Moreover, just like banana muffins you can store these cookies or maybe even for longer. A perfect balance of health and taste, chocolate cookies would be easy for the kids to eat or carry with them.

Whole Grain Crackers

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Well if you have been struggling all this while for you kids to develop taste towards whole grains, try making whole grain crackers. Whole grains are a very important source of vitamin B, dietary fiber and minerals. Even an adult diet hardly contains enough of these essentials. If you are looking to develop whole grain eating habit in your kids, then crackers made from whole grain is a good option to start with.

Further, to make it healthier consider using olive oil in the recipe rather than any other refined oil. You can use oats, flax seeds, sesame seeds etc to make healthy crackers. Add some popped up flavors such as chocolate chip, dry berries, cheese etc to make sure that it is not boring for the kids. Kids also love having cheese with crackers and therefore you can pack whole wheat crackers with cheese for their snack box.

Almond Granola Bar

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It would not be wrong if we call granola bar a food made of superfoods Every ingredient that goes into a granola bar has several benefits for the health for both kids and adults. However, if you are making the granola bar for the kids it must be a little more interesting. You might skip flavoring the granola bar when making for adults. However, kids would find such food boring and therefore try adding berries, vanilla essence, chocolate powder, etc to keep the food interesting.

High on energy, granola bars are also rich in protein, carbohydrates, fiber, cholesterol, fat, and sodium. To make it even healthier, you can skip sugar for honey and jaggery. Store the bars in a airtight container and wrap it up in aluminium foils while packing for the kids. You can also team the granola bars with yogurt, a good combination for your kids’ gut.

Carrot Cake

Source thebrownpaperbag.com.au

A super tasty cake, carrot cake does not get the love it deserves. Overpowered in terms of popularity by various other flavors such as strawberry, chocolate, vanilla and so on, carrot cake is often ignored. However, carrot cakes are super tasty and unlike other cakes, healthy too. One interesting thing about carrot cake is that you can eat it on daily basis unlike other cakes which become boring after eating a couple of days.

Carrot cakes have low cholesterol and are rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, C and E. Moreover, there are so many variations that you can create of carrot cake. For instance, if your kid loves dry fruits then put it in the carrot cake. Moreover, you can add other fruits such as pineapple too. Since kids need more energy for doing different activities, carrot cake would be a perfect healthy snacks for kids' lunch boxes.

Baked Potato Wedges

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Potatoes and the dishes made from it are savoury and filling. Contrary to the popular belief that potato is not good for health, potatoes are low in calories and good source of Vitamin B6 and C. Further, potatoes are also rich in phosphorus, manganese, pantothenic acid, etc. Potato is quite a healthy food with just 110 calories.

However, the problem lies in how they are made with lot of cheese, butter and most of the times deep fried. If your kids love French fries in their snack tiffin then try replacing it with the wedges. Unlike the fries, potato wedges are baked and therefore far healthier. Instead of using butter, you can go for olive oil while baking. Sea salt goes perfectly with the taste of potato wedges but common salt is just fine in case your kids are adept to the taste. Easy to cook and tasty to eat this is also one of the healthy snacks for kids that is not messy.

Dry Fruits

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No cooking, no mess and a lot of health benefits is exactly what dry fruits offer. The good thing is that most kids like dry fruits and prefer eating it as snacks. However, if you are having a tough time in giving them to your kids, then try chopping dry fruits into small pieces, mix it together and add some dry berries. Berries and raising take away the monotony and add hint of sweetness and sourness here and there.

You can put dry fruit mix in a small jar for the kids and keep it permanently in their bags. This will ensure that they always have something to eat instantly rather than staying hungry. Dry fruit mix boosts Hemoglobin, immunity and keep you filled throughout the day.

Popcorn

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One of the most prevalent myths in the food world is that popcorn is not good for health. On the contrary, popcorn is a rich source of polyphenol antioxidants and vitamins. You will be amazed to know that popcorn is rich in fiber and in fact one of the best sources of fiber across all food types. Just like potatoes however, popcorns recipes also include excessive use of butter, cheese, salt and other harmful ingredients. Instead of buying popcorn from the supermarket, you can simply pop them at home.

Ingredients:

  • Popcorn kernels
  • Coconut oil or any vegetable oil

How to Make:

  • The pot in which you are putting the popcorn should be deep.
  • Put a little bit of oil in the pan and add popcorn kernels.
  • Cover the pan tightly and cook on the medium flame.
  • Once you hear the popping sound, open a lid a little from the side for the air to pass.
  • Make sure to shake the pot gently so that popcorn do not get overcooked.
  • You can add a bit of salt and pack for your kids.

What to Consider when making Healthy Snacks For Kids

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Let’s just say making snacks for kids is entirely opposite of doing it for the adults. You need to make sure that the snacks are healthy but also tasty. The composition of spices etc also changes which makes it a bit more challenging to retain the glamour of food. While we have covered ways in which you can make snacks interesting for the kids in this article, let us talk a bit about things to be careful about.

Nutrition Level

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The entire purpose of giving snacks to the kids is to ensure their nutrition level is right. Adults do know about what is good and bad for them but kids do not. For instance, we might not like leafy greens but somehow include them in our diet. However, it is altogether a new challenge to feed the kids what they do not like. The solution is to make food interesting but also healthy so kids get proper level of nutrition.

No Added Preservatives

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While cooking something for kids, avoid using any kind of preservatives. In addition, make sure that you avoid ingredients that include preservatives. Researches show that preservatives can cause various health issues in the kids such as hyperactive behaviour. Moreover, excessive consumption of the preservatives is not good for heart.

Less Spicy

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A lot of times we cannot understand why kids do not like to eat. One of the most prominent reasons is excessive use of spices. Do not expect them to understand what they are not liking in the food because kids do not know that there are different ways on cooking the same food. As a parent follow the unwritten rule of using less spices when cooking for the kids.

Writer
Shachi Singh
Shachi is a research analyst with a working experience of over 7 years. An inquisitive soul, she is passionate about learning about all things beautiful in life.

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From our editorial team

Choose a Healthy Option for Your Kids in 2020 with These Healthy Snacks for Kids' Lunch Boxes

It is high time we took control of the health of our children. Don't forget to include these healthy snacks for all-round development of the immunity of children. Your children will enjoy these snacks and will carve for them. Just make sure you give the right amount at the right time.