For proper growth and development, it is very important for kids to consume nutritious food. In fact, food choices during childhood play an important role in determining their food habits and health risk in the later stages of life. So apart from planning proper meals for kids, parents should also arrange for nutrient enriched snacks.
The primary reason for resorting to healthy snack alternatives is that they do not allow children to gain excessive weight. Snacks such as potato chips and sweets are rich in calories. However, they are unhealthy as they have very little to offer on the nutrition front. Excessive weight can also heighten risks of cardiac diseases like atherosclerosis and cause an increase in blood pressure. So in addition to at least 3 meals every day, children must also be given a minimum of three healthy snacks on a regular basis.
Nutritious Snack Recipes for Kids
The following are the recipes of two very easy to prepare snacks for kids. You may modify the ingredients as per the eating habits of your child.
1. The Power Balls: This snack can be prepared so quickly, that it does not even require baking! Most importantly, this snack is enriched with vitamins, proteins and nutrients that are very good for your child’s growth.
Ingredients: Peanut butter- 1 cup, honey-1 cup, whole grain oats-3 cups, ground flaxseed- 1/2 cup and mixture of dried fruits and nuts-1 cup. The mixture can contain almonds, peanuts, walnuts, raisins and cranberries.
How to Prepare: At first, you must add peanut butter and honey in a bowl and mix them to get a smooth mixture. Next, you must add oats, flaxseeds, nuts and the dry fruit mixture to it. You must then toss the mixture till it becomes smooth. After rolling the mixture into balls, they must be kept inside the refrigerator. With the given quantity of ingredients, the mixture would help make at least 40-60 power balls.
2. Banana Pudding: Pudding is loved by most of the kids. Here is a quick recipe of delicious banana pudding which your kids will surely like.
Ingredients: 2 firm bananas, thick coconut milk (squeezed from 1/2 coconut), thinner coconut milk (squeezed from the residue of coconut left after squeezing the thicker coconut milk), 2 tsp vanilla or banana custard powder, dry fruits of your choice (fried in butter), cardamom powder, saffron, sugar as per your taste.
How to prepare: Cut bananas into 1/4 inch rounds. Take a heavy bottom pan and put banana slices into that. Boil it with the second portion of thinner coconut milk for 5 minutes. Add custard powder to the thicker coconut milk and mix it with the cooking bananas. Let the mixture get thicker. After the mixture gets thicker, remove it from the flame and add sugar to it. Garnish the mixture with dry fruits and cardamom and let it cool. Before serving it to your kids add a little saffron.
Importance of Healthy Snacks for Kids
As human beings develop the most during childhood, kids should be made to have ample nutrients and calories to enhance the growth process. Generally, children do not have very big stomachs. So, it becomes impossible for them to consume sufficient fats, proteins and carbohydrates on a daily basis. If children are given healthy snacks, they provide extra energy and the essential vitamins that steers the development of tissues.How to make healthy yet tasty snacks for kids? How to prevent kids from eating junk food? Is it ok to give junk food to kids occasionally? Discuss here.
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Hi Kimaya, we used to have fried foods in our childhood but we also used to play lot of outdoor games. These days kids are not actively involved in outdoor sports and therefore, fried and junk food can lead obesity in them.
Even I liked the first recipe very much. It is ok to give fried food to kids occasionally. When we were kids we also had lot of fried foods like samosa, vada etc. However, we are still healthy.
In the second recipe, frying is required. I don't think fried food is good for child's healthy...However, I totally loved the first recipe, it is completely power packed.
