Nutritious Snack Choices for Day Care
Providing Overall Nutrition for Small Children
Day care centers should be places where children receive the best possible nutrition. For example, the center should be providing homogenized milk to all children over the age of one, and with the recent emphasis on obesity, 2%, low fat, or skim milk can be used for the children. The kids should be given nutritious snacks each day to help encourage healthy eating habits. It is small steps like this that help parents feel comfortable with your day care center.
Nutritious Snack Choices for Day Care Centers
When providing children with nutritionally-packed snacks, you get to alter a child's nutritional health for the rest of his life. Here are some rules to keep in mind:
- Balance food intake with physical activity.
- Keep a variety of foods on the plates.
- Choose snacks with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
- Snacks low in dietary fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol are healthiest.
- Watch the amount of sugar and salt in the snacks.
- To gain parental trust, send home snack sheets for families to know what you are serving.
- Pay attention to the U.S. Department of Agricultural Food Guide.
Measuring servings is important so kids don't get too much of one food and not enough of another, as well as to control their food intake. The types of fats in snacks are important, as well. Avoid too many saturated fats, as found in:
- Meats
- Dairy products
- Palm and coconut oils
Concentrate more on unsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, as found in the following oils:
- Olive
- Canola
- Peanut oil
- Safflower
- Sunflower
- Cottonseed
- Soybean
Sugars provide calories with very little nutritional value. Simple sugars like white sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, candy, sodas, corn syrup, and jellies just put on the calories but don't provide the necessary nutrients that other foods bring.
Specific Nutrients
Kids especially need calcium, which builds bones and teeth in the presence of an adequate diet. Diets high in calcium prevent osteoporosis when an individual becomes an adult. Foods that provide a good sampling of calcium include:
- Milk
- Broccoli
- Cheese
- Yogurt
- Fortified orange juice
Iron is another important nutrient for children. It is vital for growth and for the development of adequately strong muscles and blood production. Sources of iron that can be served as a snack include:
- Peanut butter
- Nuts and nut butters
- Seeds
- Strawberries
Snacks to Avoid in a Day Care Setting
Focus on variety so children are exposed to a wide variety of food choices each day. Nutrition services recommend that day care centers shy away from:
- Using baby bottles over the age of one
- Heavily sweetened desserts
- Fruit flavored drinks
- Sodas
- Cereals coated with sugar
- Potato chips
- Candy
Paying attention to nutrition is vital to overall childhood health. Good nutrition can hold off obesity, osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. These are now common diseases in obese children.
Be aware of giving a child foods he can easily choke on, such as:
- Peanuts
- Whole grapes
- Raw carrots
- Anything but soft meats
- Chewing gum
- Hard candies
It is a day care center's responsibility to know what foods are appropriate and inappropriate for the various age groups served. It takes research and common sense to know if you are providing the right snacks for each child.
There are plenty of nutritious snack options for day care centers. These include foods that young children naturally love to eat. Remember that it is not only about serving nutritious snacks, but snacks that are age-appropriate as well.
Note: When serving any snacks, it is important to know if a child has allergies to any kind of food in order to avoid problems. Always check with parents for this vital information. This article is not intended to be medical advice.
Nutritious Snacks in Day Care
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