Prepared by
Beth Reames, PhD, LDN, RD,

Diane Linder, EdD, LDN, RD
and

Donna Montgomery, MS

Children sometimes have difficulty eating enough food at mealtime.  Their stomachs are smaller, and their appetites are likely to change from day to day.

Table of Contents Nutrition for Young Children Introduction What You Will Learn Food Guide Pyramid Review The Dietary Guidelines for Children Using Food Guide Pyramid Review Go for the Grains Vegetables Fruits Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs and Nuts Food Safety Milk, Yogurt and Cheese Group Snacks Fast Food Feeding Your Preschool Child with Love and Understanding Tips For Feeding Young Children Eating and Exercising for Good Health Summary Web Sites to Visit Review questions Back to Nutrition Curriculum Lessons

Snacks

It's OK for kids to snack and adults, too, at least sometimes, if the foods they eat help provide essential nutrients needed for a well-balanced diet.   Children sometimes have difficulty eating enough food at mealtime.  Their stomachs are smaller, and their appetites are likely to change from day to day.   Also, many families do not take time for three sit-down meals a day.   Nutritious snacks can provide calories and other essential nutrients that may be missing in a child's diet.  It is important, though, that snack foods fit into the guidelines for a healthy diet low in fat, sugar and sodium, and provide dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and protein.

Children sometimes eat too many snacks, especially foods high in sugar and fat.  Then they don't want their meals with milk, lean meats and poultry, fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates--foods recommended each day in the Food Guide Pyramid.

Risk factors for heart disease often begin in childhood.  Three major ones are related to food habits:

• high levels of blood cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• obesity

Lack of adequate exercise is another primary risk factor for heart disease and obesity.  Children snack and watch TV too many hours each day instead of playing.

Eating and exercise habits are learned early in life, and, once formed, are difficult to change.  If children are given low-fat milk and other nutritious foods low in fat, they will learn to prefer such foods.

Physicians and scientists from 42 major U.S. health and professional organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, recently recommended that all healthy children over the age of two eat a low-fat diet the same as their parents.  It's important to know also that all health experts unanimously agree that children under two should not be fed a low-fat or low cholesterol diet.  Infants need the essential fatty acids in full-fat milk or formula for proper development of brain and body.  After age two, low-fat or skim milk should gradually become part of a healthy, low-fat diet.

Fast Food

Fast foods are a major part of life in America.  Most people eat from one to three fast-food meals a week.  More schools are serving fast-food meals to compete with our preference for fast foods.  A steady diet of fast foods can be a problem for young children.  First of all, they are usually very high in fat and sodium.  And if children develop a taste preference for fast foods, it's often difficult to get them to eat a greater variety of healthier foods.

Most children like fast foods.  Most restaurants promote special meal packages which contain enticing toys.  Some even have playgrounds.  So, what's a parent to do?  It's all right for a child to eat a fast-food meal of this type once in a while.  Remember that children want something even more if they've been told they can't have it!  Also, there really are no good or bad foods.  You just balance those high fat and high sodium foods with lower fat and lower sodium ones for the next day or two, and increase the food group choices often missing in a fast-food meal.

But, if you find you're stopping in for a quick meal with the family several times a week, or driving through to pick up something to take home, then you may find it's harder to do this balancing act.  That's when it's a good idea to look for healthier choices.

Tips for making healthier choices:

1.  Choose a restaurant that offers more than just fried foods.

2.  Don't ask the kids what they want from the total menu.  Give them a choice, but make it between two or three of the healthier items.

3.  If the kids have to have the special meal package, ask for substitutions.  Ask for juice instead of the cold drink and a small cup of frozen yogurt instead of the fries.  Or, just get them to put whatever you order in the special container and offer to pay a little extra for the toy if necessary.

4.  Ask how many grams of fat certain items have.  Some restaurants serve milk shakes that have only one or two grams of fat.  Others serve shakes that have 12 or more.  Children over the age of two should limit the number of grams of fat per day the same as adults.  That means less than 30 percent of calories should come from fat, or less than 53 grams of fat a day for a child who takes in about 1600 calories.

5.  Order regular hamburgers.  They have less than 15 grams of fat and about 250 calories, while double cheeseburgers can have more than 63 grams of fat and more than 1000 calories!  Fried fish or chicken sandwiches can range from 30 to 40 grams of fat.

6.  A grilled chicken sandwich or salad is fine if you have them hold the mayonnaise dressing.  One tablespoon of mayonnaise has 11 grams of fat.  If you must go with the fried chicken dinner, then order the breast and remove the skin.   Do without the coleslaw, onion rings or fries.  Instead, order plain mashed potatoes and perhaps the corn, if it's not swimming in butter.

7.  Chicken fajitas, burritos and soft-shell tacos are fairly good choices.  A taco salad is OK if you don't eat the pastry shell.  (With the shell, it adds up to 61 grams of fat and more than 900 calories!)

8.  Pizza can be a healthy choice, especially if you bypass the meat toppings, order with one-half the cheese and ask for extra vegetables.

9.  Get your kids interested in the salad bar early.  Make upside down salads.  Pile the shredded carrots, green peppers, tomatoes and other veggies on first;  add a little lettuce last.  Use low-fat dressings.   Stay away from mayonnaise-based pasta salads or potato salads.

10.  Part of a submarine sandwich is a great option, especially on whole-grain buns.  Choose low-fat fillings like lean roast beef, turkey or chicken.   Avoid cold cuts like bologna, pepperoni or salami and tuna or chicken salads.   Ask for mustard, not mayonnaise.

11.  Always insist that the hamburgers are cooked thoroughly with no pink showing. The center should be gray, the juices should run clear and the texture should be firm, not mushy.

 

12.  Make sure your children have plenty of fruits and vegetables at snack time and other meals if the fast-food meal lacks these items.

13.  For breakfast, pancakes with syrup only, low-fat muffins or English muffins are wholesome.  Most of the breakfast sandwiches are very high in fat.  A fast-food biscuit has 276 calories and 13 grams of fat compared to one you make at home from a mix.  It has only 95 calories and three grams of fat.

14.  Make sure the food you choose for yourself is healthy, too. Children learn best by example.