Good job improving your family’s lifestyle.  Most of us need to improve our eating habits, and snacking plays an important role in healthy eating for both children and adults.  Because snacks fuel your body between meals, they prevent you from getting so hungry that you end up overeating at meals or later in the day. 

Snacks are very important for children, those with small or poor appetites, and breastfeeding moms as it may be challenging for these people to get all of the nutrients they need during meals. 

Unfortunately, many of the snacks we eat are high in fat, sugar, and sodium (salt).  In the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey, 41% of the calories people ate as snacks were foods from the “other foods” category. This includes foods like pop, candy, and chips.  These foods tend to have a lot of calories and very little nutrition. With Halloween around the corner, your little ghosts and goblins will have lots of “other foods” to choose from. 

So, what’s a healthy snack?  Think of a snack as a mini-meal.  It should have foods from at least two food groups. Since snacks are eaten between meals, it’s a good idea to make them as tooth friendly as possible. Snacks that are good for your oral health are the same as those that are good for overall health. 

Choose vegetables and fruit more often than juice, whole grain products, low fat milk and alternatives, lean meats, legumes, nuts, and seeds.  Limit sticky, high sugar foods that you can expect from trick-or-treating, like candy, taffy, and chocolate bars.  Also, pay attention to the portion sizes in Canada’s Food Guide. This will help you to satisfy your hunger without ruining your appetite for later meals. 

Prepare snacks ahead of time, so that grabbing a healthy choice when you feel hungry is easy.  Have healthy snacks ready in your fridge, pantry, lunch bag, or desk. 

Here are some ideas:

·        Fresh fruit and vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, apples, pears, and celery with a low fat yogurt dip

 ·        Half a toasted whole grain bagel or bread with peanut or almond butter, or NoNuts ™ Golden Peabutter, a nut-free alternative made from golden brown peas

·        Whole grain crackers (Melba toast™ , Ryvita^®) with cheese or light tuna or salmon salad

·        Cottage cheese with blueberries or raspberries

·        Dips like baba ghanoush or hummus with cut up cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots or pita bread

·        Celery or apple slices with peanut butter or cottage cheese and raisins

·        Combine nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, and/or hazelnuts) with dried whole grain cereal or plain popcorn

·        Low fat yogurt parfait with fruit and whole grain cereal

Written by: Heather Nadon, RD as published in the Windsor Star, October 2008.