When small children get hungry, tempers tend to flare up. Since most children prefer to eat small snacks throughout the day, it’s crucial to have healthy, nutritional options available to help them focus in school and to ward off afternoon tantrums. Here are some easy, tasty snacks packed with vitamins, protein and fibre from the doctors at Bangkok Hospital Siriroj Children’s Clinic.
- Chopped rose apples. Juicy, crunchy and sweet, these make for an especially delicious, portable alternative to Western apples. They’re especially good for snacking without leading to messy fingers.
- Grilled Thai bananas. If you’ve walked through a market in Thailand, chances are high that you’ve seen street vendors deep-frying bananas in a sweet coconut batter. As tasty as these may be, they’re not very healthy. Instead, offer your children the grilled alternative, which are lower in sugar, fat and calories.
- Apples with almond butter. This classic combo provides a blood sugar boost with plenty of healthy fats and protein to help keep hunger at bay for longer. Almonds are high in antioxidants, but any nut butter should do the trick. Cashew butter is extra creamy and loaded with trace elements like iron and magnesium, while even the classic peanut butter is full of protein and beneficial unsaturated fats.
- A banana and peanut butter sandwich. A PB&J may be traditional, but many commercial varieties of jelly are high in sugars. Swap in a banana (some people add honey, but the fruit is naturally sweet enough that you don’t really need to) for the jelly and use all-natural peanut butter free from partially hydrogenated oils. If your kids eat whole wheat bread, this is a great place to sneak in some whole grains.
- Berries with cinnamon and yoghurt. This snack is incredibly easy and delicious. Yoghurt provides protein and calcium, while the berries offer a boost of antioxidants, vitamins and fibre. Even the cinnamon may be reduce the risk of diabetes by helping keep blood sugar in check. Because cinnamon has a flavour that we associate with sweetness and the berries are high in natural sugars, you can skip the sugary flavoured yoghurts loaded with artificial flavours and colours. For a more filling snack, consider adding a sprinkle of chopped nuts or a little bit of low-sugar granola or muesli.
- Cheese and whole-wheat crackers. This very kid-friendly snack gets protein and calcium from the cheese, plus fibre and B vitamins from the whole-grain crackers. It’s an effortless afternoon pick-me-up.
