Creating a healthy diet for children should include snacks low in saturated fats, preservatives, food coloring and other additives. To provide snacks that satisfy your kids' cravings, but offer low amounts of carbohydrates, look for foods that provide plenty of vitamins and minerals. Many familiar snacks come in healthy versions, including commercially prepared items and whole foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Dairy
Keep snacks familiar by offering low-carb treats such as shakes, cheese and crackers and frozen yogurt. Other low-carb, high-protein snacks could include regular yogurt, cottage cheese and fruit, chocolate milk, string cheese, ranch dressing with fresh veggies, and apples and cheese. Check the nutrition label when choosing dairy products, many of which may be high in saturated and trans fats. Look for low-fat, low-cholesterol choices when buying cheeses and milks. Pair low-carbohydrate crackers, breads and chips with any dairy items to keep carbs to a minimum.
Meats, Fish & Poultry
Try beef and turkey jerky, avoiding those with unhealthy additives and high fat contents. Serve tuna salad lettuce wraps for low-carb snacks high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Eggs are an excellent high-protein, low-carb treat, but are high in cholesterol. Serve sparingly, or use the egg whites to create mid-morning scrambles or bite-size omelets. Hard-boiled eggs, egg salad or deviled eggs with low-fat mayo let you keep egg snacks familiar. Baked chicken fingers using a non-wheat flour for breading or hot wings let you serve chicken in familiar ways.
Nuts, Grains & Seeds
Nuts are an excellent low-fat, low-carb source of protein. Add sugar or cinnamon to almonds or peanuts and bake for a sweet treat. Pair peanut butter with celery or apples or low-fat crackers. Pumpkin, sunflower and other seeds add crunch and nutrition to snack time. Salted nuts let kids have the salt they crave without the high-fat and high-carb content of many chips. Check the amount of sugar and salt you put on nuts and seeds to ensure these snacks don't overdo it. Low-fat graham crackers, vanilla wafers, pretzels, bagels, rice cakes, saltines, breadsticks and popcorn are good low-carb choices for kids, according to Diabetic-Lifestyle.com.
Fruit
In addition to offering children whole pieces of fruit, serve fruit smoothies, frozen fruit bars, fresh-squeezed fruit juice and apple sauce with no additives. Offer low-fat dipping sauces, like caramel, with pieces of apples. Raisins are another healthy low-carb snack. Enhance gelatins by adding fruit or veggies like shredded carrots or pineapple to the mold. Mix fruits in a salad. Keep an eye on the sugar content of fruit snacks and the fat content of dipping sauces so that you don't serve too much, too often. If you have a diabetic child, it's a myth that fruit contains too much sugar and carbohydrates for diabetics, according to the MayoClinic.com. A serving of fruit, such as a half a banana, contains about 15 gm of carbohydrates, which MayoClinic.com recommends per serving for a low-carb diet.
Vegetables
Broccoli and carrots don't come to mind when you think of favorite kids' snacks, but with the advent of low-fat dipping sauces, raw veggies have become more popular in recent years. Ranch dip is an extremely popular veggie dip with kids. Pair with carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets, pepper strips and cucumber, zucchini and squash slices. As with any dairy product, check the fat content of any dip you serve.
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