Why Kids Need Healthy Snacks For School

The rate of children with obesity has increased three-fold from 1978 to 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. While breakfast is important for your child's performance at school, ensuring that he eats healthy snacks is also important. Healthy snacks at school can help children achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, establish sound eating habits and improve their nutrition status.

Obesity

Vending machines selling sugar-laden snacks may be partially responsible for rising obesity rates in children, the The Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America reports. Obesity fueling snacks include sugary drinks like Coke and Gatorade. Additionally, snacks like cookies, potato chips and candy may also contribute to obesity in children. Many health experts believe that providing healthy snacks to kids in school can help curb obesity.

Habits

Eating patterns adopted during the school-age years often stay with children well into adulthood. For example, children who are overweight at 9 years of age tend to be overweight at 50, reports Charlotte M. Wright of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, in a paper published in the December 2001 issue of the "British Medical Journal." Overweight adults are at heightened risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Providing healthy snacks like fruit, vegetables, yogurt, whole grain cereal and raw nuts can cement healthy eating habits early in life.

Nutrients

Healthy snacks like fruits and veggies provide growing bodies with vitamins and minerals that they need to grow and thrive. However, most kids don't consume the five servings of fresh produce recommended for optimal health. Snacking provides a prime opportunity to up kids' intake of fruits and vegetables. Convenient snacks include baby carrots, celery sticks and sliced apples. These snacks can also be found in some vending machines.

Learning

Adequate nutrition helps children perform well at school. In a study published in the November 2007 issue of the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association," M.L. Fu of the Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology found that children who regularly indulged in unhealthy snack foods tended to perform poorly, compared to children who ate a healthy diet. Proper nutrition supports healthy cognitive development in children.