September 27, 2011 The Snack as Mini-Meal Mistake
Thinking about snacks as mini meals is a mistake. A big one. It teaches kids bad snacking habits.
Don’t get me wrong, the mini-meal ideal would be a wonderful thing. It would provide a delicious and healthy snack. But honestly, who gives their kids snack mini-meals that look like this? Half fruits and vegetables?
For that matter, who gives their kids meals that look like this? Maybe that's the problem.
Or maybe the problem is that when parents think about the snack as a mini-meal they draw from the wrong kinds of meals: pizza, bagels, cereal.
Or maybe the problem is that parents draw from the wrong meals, breakfast and lunch instead of dinner, even though dinner is where the veggies typically show up.
In fairness to nutritionists, their call for the mini-meal snack comes from their desire to move people away from truly crappy snacks.
(And it probably gets pretty boring repeating the mantra: Kids should snack primarily on fruits and vegetables!)
Right now, kids are most likely to snack on desserts and sugary beverages but according to research the fastest growing snack categories are salty snacks and candy. Read Snacking and the Nutrition Zone Mentality.
Parents who try to do better often end up serving what I call "Do No Harm" Snacks.
And parents who go for the mini-meal often end up serving...pizza? A slice from Pizza Hut delivers:
- Roughly 200 calories (depending upon the size of the pie and the style of the crust).
- 8-10 grams of fat, much of it saturated (thanks to the cheese).
- More than 500 mg of sodium.
- 10 grams of protein.
Hardly a healthy snacking habit.
Even if you choose nutritious mini-meals you will still be fostering the wrong habits.
Because you will most likely reinforce (rather than expand) your children's food preferences, train their taste buds away from fruits and vegetables, serve your kids more calories than they need in between meals.
Check out the 20 Best Snacks for Kids from Parents.com. Recommendations include:
- Cheese
- Quesadillas
- Sweet Potatoes
- Noodles
- Whole Grain Cereal
- Hummus Sandwich
- Eggs
- Peanut Butter
Kids don't need more of these kinds of foods in their diets. They already eat enough of them. More importantly, most of these mini-meals pack too much of a punch. Did you know that a Kids Meal Cheese Quesadilla from Qdoba has 400 calories and more than 22 grams of saturated fat? As a snack?
You don't need fancy recipes or elaborate ideas to keep your kids snacking right.
You just need to think about developing your kids' habits.
If you continually rotate (and constantly rotating is the key) through a selection of fruits, vegetables, cheese and processed snack foods like crackers and cereal bars in proportion to their healthful benefits – fruits/veggies most often, sandwiches, noodles and other mini-meals less often, and processed snacks least often – not only will you improve the overall quality of your children’s diets, but you will also see loads of other benefits. Read 10 Ways Improving Your Kids' Snacking Will Improve YOUR Life!
Don't just think of a healthy snack as a healthy stand-in between meals. Used correctly, snacks can actually teach your kids to eat right. It's all about teaching habits.
~ Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
Reader Comments (12)
My son is a "grazer." I initially tried to break him of his all-day snacking mentality by serving meals and snacks at set times, but it made him completely miserable. So now I work WITH his natural tendencies, and instead allow him to munch healthy foods all day. And I really do mean healthy - fresh (or occasionally freeze-dried) fruits and veggies, with a bit of cheese every now and then for protein. I serve him healthy whole grains once or twice a day, and he occasionally has a "do no harm" (or a plain old terrible) snack, especially if he sees someone else eating something junky. But, overall, he's quite healthy, and we're happy with his diet.
Gentle Mom -
Sounds like your son is a great eater and that you've found out a system that works. I love how well you've put proportion into practice!! I'm all for the "do no harm" and the junk as long as there in there in the right way!
Best,
Dina
My husband is on Atkins (I know!) so my kiddo has started gravitating to one of his favorite snacks: sardines. (For serious.) Also smoked oysters and clams. Actually, I'm always amazed at how much kids like those sorts of things when we have them out at a party or something. I would not have guessed.
I totally agree that too many kids are snacking on enriched-flour-type carbs and really liked your post about "do no harm" snacks. But I know that at least for my 7-year-old, who is eating dinner portions the size of mine these days, fruits and vegetables wouldn't be enough for him, especially after school when he is famished. We usually try to combine a fruit with nut butter, cheese, or nuts and yes, we rotate through things like Nature Valley granola bars and pretzels too. I am starting to glimpse what it will be like to have a "growing boy" whose appetite never seems to end! Scary! And expensive!
Sally,
I get your point. But what do you say to the parent who is providing pizza as a mid-afternoon snack?
Your snacks sound more like the mini-meal ideal.
Dina
The things listed from the "Parents" site are not snacks! Those are the items I'd give my kids for their lunch -- not a between-meals pick-me up!
Honestly, I'm so over the whole SNACK thing. And my kids are only 5 and 2, so I have a long way to go. But you know what? Our two boys eat a wide variety of foods and eat very full, healthy meals at mealtimes, so we find that many times if we don't even mention a snack, they will happily go about their business (playing and squabbling, as little boys should) without even thinking of food between meals. If they DO ask, we think about what they have eaten throughout the day so far, and if we think there's any doubt about their fruits and veggies, we require them to choose a produce-based snack before asking for anything else. Other than that, they get a very small serving of air-popped popcorn, a little homemade granola, or a fruit smoothie...and most days, they don't even ask for a snack anyway. When they start getting hungry, an hour or so before dinner, we give them something to drink and invite them to help us cook, which distracts them and tides them over. Just goes to show that snacking is not as crucial to the American child as we all like to think it is.
Interesting ideas here, thanks.
What about the idea of having some protein at a snack? My kinder kid is happy to have a cucumber and a Clementine for her afternoon school snack, but I feel like we should get in another food group! At home, that is typically a glass of milk.
Any thoughts?
Nicole
Bri: I'm with you on the snacking. I'm over it too. I think everyone needs a snack some of the time, but most people don't need to snack every day. Years ago people didn't snack and everyone survived. So I agree that snacking should be on an "as needed" basis.
Nicole: I think it's much more important to think about proportion (eating more healthy stuff every day than the moderate or junky stuff) and variety (rotating every day what gets served) than it is to think about food groups. If you implement proportion and variety you'll cycle through all the food groups and teach your kids the habits that translate nutrition into behavior.
Thanks for all the wonderful, thoughtful comments.
Dina
Hi Dina,
Another great post, as usual! I've been implementing some of your ideas for just over a week now, with my just-turned-two year old... in general it's going ok (he's not dying of starvation!), and I've only served "do no harm" snacks a few times, and he wasn't even that interested in them, (although he did get a couple of potato chips last night from Daddy!!). He loves his fruit (as always), is about 50/50 on his proteins and has tasted a few vegetables (but still refuses to even touch most, and if he does, takes full advantage of the spitting option!). He's probably not eating any more of them than he used to, but I understand that it will take time. This morning for his snack he actually did the one-one trick, between his crackers & orange, but refused to touch the peas on his plate... still, I celebrated this small step in the right direction. Talking to him about the feel, taste, etc of his food really seems to be helping, and we're trying hard to teach that dinner time is for discussing what you did that day, rather than just eating (it's so cute when he asks "What you do today Daddy?").
However, I have some questions/issues...
I've been trying hard not to serve the same foods 2 days in a row, or twice in 1 day, to introduce more variety. But is it ok to serve last night's dinner leftovers for lunch the next day? Or should I try to leave them until lunch the next day?
I'm having a hard time thinking of interesting ways to serve veges for snacks - he's not into raw veges (still doesn't have all his teeth, so has trouble chewing most of them), and I get the feeling that plain re-heated frozen veges aren't the most interesting for his palate?
Also, he woke up several times last night, and I think it was because he was hungry. He ate all of his sweet potato mash and a few bites of chicken for dinner - a 1/4c serve of mash and then another 1/4c, after I did the whole "I'll get some more mash for you in a minute, why don't you eat something else while you wait" trick. The finely chopped salad with lots of dressing I gave him was "yucky" which I managed to get him to expand to "it feels funny". We then had watermelon for dessert, of which he ate 5 small triangles, then stopped half-way through his 6th & said "all done", so I figured he was full. He went to bed not long after, so I didn't think to offer him a bedtime snack (although he always has milk before bedtime). But after he woke at 2:30, 3:30 and then 4am, I finally gave in and gave him half a slice of wholegrain bread so I could get some sleep (luckily the baby chose last night to sleep 12hrs straight, so I didn't have to wake up for her too!!). Any advice on how to deal with this? I hate giving into his "I'm hungry" cries in the night, but nothing else seemed to be working to get him back to sleep, and I had to function today!
I appreciate any advice you can give...
Many thanks, Emma
Emma,
It sounds like you are on the right track. You need to think of this time as an eating "training" period. The more you stick with the techniques you have implemented, the more successes you will.
It's fine to serve leftovers from dinner for lunch. It adds variety to your son's daily diet and unless you are eating the same foods for dinner every night (which I highly doubt) you won't be serving the same foods for lunch every day.
Regarding sending your son to bed hungry. I wouldn't do it - ever! (OK. I would consider it if your son was habitually skipping dinner because he wanted his bedtime snack, but that's not what is happening.) I think you should absolutely serve your son his milk before bedtime if that has been working for you. If the milk doesn't seem to be enough I would add some fruit on the side, or make the milk into a smoothie.
Good luck.
Dina
As a Nutritionist, I like the concept of the "mini meal" snack. However, you are correct in the fact that too many parents choose the wrong type of mini meal. Pizza is the #1 consumed "snack" (including pizza bagels, pizza rolls, and other pizza-type items). French fries take the #2 spot (which also includes potato "smiles," tator tots, and other fried potato treats). Fruits & vegetables don't get the same flashy commercials that junky snacks do. Cookies and crackers are another popular snack choice.
I hope that local grocery stores start stocking 'Scarrots' (sliced carrots in a spooky looking bag) again this year for Halloween. I noticed a big increase in kids snacking on carrots after the success of Scarrots last year. Sometimes, it's all about marketing- to kids as well as parents. A lot of parents only purchase and serve food that is marketed to kids because they view it as "kid food." There is no magical age to stop serving cookies daily and start serving carrots, not do kids require Lucky Charms until they are "grown up" enough to need FiberOne.
Nutr.
I agree with everything you say - especially the comment about Scarrots and marketing.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Dina