Healthy, Kid Friendly Summer Snacks

Transcript:

Alyssa: Welcome back to “Ask a Nutritionist”, our weekly mini episode of Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Alyssa Krejci, Registered Dietitian here with Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Summer is here, which can mean summer camps, busy sports schedules, pool days, bike rides, kids being at home more, asking you, can I have another snack? Today we are talking about kid-friendly, healthy summer snacks that can support their energy, good moods, and most importantly, our foods they will actually eat.

Let's jump in. In the summer months, kids are often more active outside for long periods of time in the heat. Snacks can help cover some nutrient gaps that may occur when either kids don't eat enough of certain types of foods or enough food at their meals. The snacks provide a great opportunity for them to get a mix of real food carbohydrates plus protein and healthy fats, providing them with energy they need to support their growth and fully enjoy all the activities of summer.

One challenge I often see is we can get in a bit of a rut offering the same snacks over and over again. Kids may be filling up at snack time on low nutrient dense, easy to grab foods like chips, cookies, fruit snacks, and crackers. These can spike energy quickly and then lead to an energy crash an hour later.

Ideally, we want to provide snacks that satisfy kids' hunger and are full of the nutrients they need. Because remember, kids are growing and we want them to be happy and full until mealtime. As a mom and a dietitian, I look for snacks that are simple to put together, nutritionally balanced, and portable for those on-the-go days. Having older school age and middle school kids myself, I often remind them that food is nourishment.

It has helped to explain to them that nutrient-rich foods build healthy bodies with strong bones and muscles and supports their energy, brain, mood, and enhances their performance. Low nutrient foods do the opposite. As youth athletes themselves, they've shared with me that they have started to notice a difference in how they feel depending on what they have chosen to eat before and around their different activities of choice. I find that kids are more willing to eat an abundance of nutrient-rich foods and also at the same time limit those low nutrient, easy to grab snack foods when they understand how the different types of food options affect their energy and performance and how they feel.

Tip: make nutrient-rich foods easy to access & grab (& ideas)

As a parent, making nutrient-rich foods at our house easier for my kids to both see, access, and grab also increases their consumption of those foods. Make the nutrient-rich snack options an easy, ready-to-grab option. I like using different snack containers with compartments to portion out different foods for snacks.

Have the vegetables and fruits for snacks already washed, cut, and portioned into their containers for the day. Don't forget little condiment cups with easy twist-off lids if your kids enjoy dipping. When my kids have summer camps, I will often store the snack containers in travel-sized snack bags with built-in freezer packs to keep foods that need to stay cold cold, even in the summer heat.

Some great options for kid-friendly grab and go summer snacks that are also nutrient-rich include cheese cubes and turkey slices with a side of grapes, apple slices with sun butter. And a hard-boiled egg. A homemade trail mix with mix-ins such as nuts, seeds, and dried or freeze-dried fruits, making turkey roll-ups, spread on them some cream cheese, avocado, or hummus, and have them wrapped around cucumber or carrot sticks paired with a side of strawberries.

Yogurt cups, or bottled yogurt drinks for that matter, with no added sugar paired with a banana and maybe some pumpkin seeds. Or maybe you have a homemade smoothie made with frozen fruit, kefir for good gut healthy probiotics, and for fat, add either a half an avocado or some nut butter. Smoothies can also be frozen into tasty popsicle molds, which are really refreshing in the summer months.

For long tournament days, swim meets, or other activities that take all day, packing a cooler with both meals and balanced snacks can make a huge difference in kids and parents’ energy, mood, and hydration rather than relying on concession stand, drive-thru, or gas station convenience food options.

Get kids in the kitchen helping out (& more snack ideas)

Summer break is also a fantastic time to help kids build skills and competence in the kitchen, becoming more independent. When kids help to prepare meals and snacks, they're often more willing to eat them and try new foods. Simple snack prep teaches them some great lifelong skills.

For younger kids, you might do this by initially setting up an assembly station. Have three trays containing options for protein, real food carbohydrates, and healthy fats that you set out in front of them. Instruct them to include something from each bucket in their snack container to build a balanced snack.

This will give them both some autonomy and help them visually learn and understand how to put together that balanced snack. You can think of it like making a kid's charcuterie board. Kids will tend to lean heavier on carbohydrates, and that's okay. Having different food options laid out, giving them the exposure to a variety of different and maybe new foods will help build familiarity and comfort and help them be more likely to try and choose a variety of foods over time.

It's the long game with kids. No need to make too many choices in each bucket. Include two to three different choices for each tray category. For the protein tray, this could look like a deli meat option like turkey, cheese cubes, or an egg bite. The healthy fat tray could be something like guacamole or mashed avocado cups, hummus cups, a dip container, maybe a homemade dip, like our recipe for a little dipper veggie dip recipe. You find it on our website, weightandwellness.com under the recipes tab.

Or some nut and seed butter. Then for the tray with the carbohydrates focus on color. Include maybe two different types of fruits, sliced or cubed up. A veggie option like snap peas, celery, or maybe some carrot sticks or mini peppers. Maybe you have a minimally ingredient cracker option too in the mix.

The same idea applies to assembling to go bento box type containers when you're on the move. Kids often help assemble them. Love it, because then they have a choice in what goes in it. And they know what's coming at snack time. They look forward to it.

Some other summer snacks kids make that require minimal help are yogurt parfaits. They can layer yogurt, berries, and nuts or seeds in a cup or a jar. Maybe they make frozen banana bites. Make a mixture of peanut butter or seed butter, like sun butter, and yogurt, and dip the banana slices into it and freeze those slices. Kids often love making kebabs.

This is a favorite one at my house. You can have them skewer strawberries, grapes, melon cubes, and pineapple and have those as a part of snack. Classic ants on a log is still a winner at my house. Celery with peanut butter or sun butter and raisins. Very tasty and simple. Maybe they make frozen yogurt bars. Spread yogurt on a tray that doesn't have a whole lot of added sugar and top it with a low sugar granola, fruit, and then you can freeze it and they break it into different pieces to have at snack.

Of course, smoothies or protein shakes are always often a winner as well. And again, you can make them into popsicles. Let kids choose different flavor combinations. So maybe it's a peanut butter and fruit, strawberry banana, banana chocolate, berries and cream, peaches and cream. Our website, weightandwellness.com, has several recipes under the recipe tab as well if you're looking for combinations and ideas.

Keep nutrient-rich foods visible & accessible

The main takeaway tip I like to share for parents and caregivers is to keep the nutrient-rich foods you want your kids to be eating more of both visible and accessible. Take a few minutes to wash and chop fruits and vegetables rather than tossing them all in the bag in the drawer in the fridge, where they're out of sight and harder to access.

Having washed fruit and vegetables chopped ready to eat at eye level in the fridge goes a long way. You can even put them in single serving size containers for kids to quickly grab versus storing them in a large container and then having them need to be portioned out for each snack.

Healthier drinks for summertime

Now let's take a moment to shift and talk about drinks, because summertime can quickly become a sugar overload between juice boxes, lemonade, slushies, sports drinks, soda. Yes, hydration is important. And at the same time, kids don't need large amounts of added sugar to stay hydrated.

Remember, kids usually don't need sports drinks for regular activity. Water and nourishing snacks are often enough unless they're exercising intensely for long periods of time in the heat. In that case, I suggest an electrolyte powder like the Synerplex one that we offer at our NutriKey site.

It's free of added sugar and synthetic dyes that are often found in sports drinks. Pairing it with fruits like oranges, peaches, grapes, an applesauce pouch, or no sugar added dried mango, bananas, fruit cup, and 100% fruit juice can provide quick real food carbohydrates to help keep energy tanks up in between races and on the field while offering more nutrition than just straight added sugar.

It often surprises people to learn that there is about the same amount of added sugar in many bottled sports drinks, or some electrolyte powders, even as regular soda. I encourage you to turn the container around and read the nutrition label on the back to see how much added sugar is sneaking into common foods and beverages, even if they are marketed as healthy foods.

For a refreshing summer drink, I will sometimes use NutriDyn’s Kids Fruit and Greens Fruit Punch, or Nutrikey’s Key Greens & Fruit mixes with water. There are powdered mixes we carry at Nutrikey that can be used instead of high sugar Kool-Aids and lemonades. They taste sweet using stevia or monk fruit and are free of added sugar. Instead, they use fruit powders.

So they're also rich in antioxidants, and you can change how much you add to them depending on how sweet you want it to be. My middle schooler will often sometimes use half a teaspoon and add it into a smoothie for a little bit of a flavor boost as well.

Shop Key Greens & Fruits Powder

If your kids think plain water is boring, you may also experiment and try infusing water with berries, different citrus fruits, melon, cucumber, or mint. Add it to the water bottle and choose a water bottle that's your kids' favorite color. Make it more enjoyable.

For older kids who enjoy bubbles, flavored sparkling water without added sugar can still feel fun and refreshing. Quick reminder: there are many energy drinks on the market these days with claims of different health benefits. They are marketed to look cool and fun. Energy drinks are not recommended for kids because of the caffeine and stimulant content that they contain, which can be quite high for both kids and even adults.

Wrapping it up

So, in wrapping up today's discussion, healthy summer snacking doesn't have to be complicated or social media picture perfect. The goals are simple. Fuel and nourish our active kids. Keep them hydrated. Give them options with all macronutrients: protein, healthy fats, and real food carbohydrates. And make those healthy choices easy and accessible so they'll be more likely to grab and eat them at snack time.

A little planning can help kids be energized all summer long without relying on a constant supply of sugary snacks and drinks. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of “Ask a Nutritionist”. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with another parent or caregiver who's also navigating the summer snack season. If you haven't already, join our Dishing Up Nutrition Facebook group. There you can connect with our dietitians and other listeners for more ideas.

Join Our Dishing Up Nutrition Facebook Group

Healthy eating should support your life, not stress you out. If you're looking for individualized guidance and help to thrive in the busy summer season, meet with me. I'm Alyssa or another dietitian at Nutrition Weight & Wellness.

Schedule Nutrition Counseling or Sign Up for a Class!

Give us a call at 651-699-3438 or visit our website, weightandwellness.com, to learn more about our nutrition therapy counseling and class options. Thanks for tuning in today. Have a wonderful day.