It seems like children are always hungry. Harvard nutritionist Walter Willett notes that providing the right snacks can help your child succeed at school. However, the wrong snacks can hurt school performance and put your child in danger of becoming overweight.
Calorie Content
Different snack foods have different calorie content. A handful of plain potato chips contains 153 calories. Two oatmeal cookies contain 105 calories. An apple contains just 65 calories. Many prepackaged snacks now come in containers calibrated to deliver 100 calories per package.
Good and Bad Calories
Harvard nutritionist Walter Willett reports that what composes calories is more important than the raw number of calories. For example, potato chip calories are mostly starches and fats, while an apple's calories come from carbohydrates and fruit sugars. Choosing calories from healthy sources is key to delivering healthy snacks for your child.
Nutrition Ratio
Willett further advises choosing foods that have a high level of nutrition as compared to their calorie content. In general, vegetables and high-protein foods like lean meat, fish and legumes have the highest ratio of good nutrition for the calories they bring to the table.
References
- "National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference," US Department of Education; 2009
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Walter Willett MD, et al; 2006
- "You: The Owner's Manual"; Dr. Mehmet Oz; 2006
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