Snacking for CF Kids
Healthy Snacks for CF Kids
As a parent or caregiver of a child with CF, the health of that child is in your hands. But when your kids are asking for snacks multiple times a day, it can be a challenge to know what to give them. Do kids really need so many snacks?
“How do I get my kids to eat healthier snacks instead of the sugary, processed snacks they keep asking for?” This is a really common struggle – if this sounds like your house, please know that you’re not alone.
One of the best ways to help children develop healthy habits and healthy bodies is to provide nutritious food for them when they are young. This is especially important for CF kids as these healthy habits can support better health for them throughout their CF journey so they can grow to be healthy adults.
In this blog post, I will talk about 5 ways that you can improve your child's snacking habits so that they get the nutrition they need while still enjoying the snacks you’re offering!
Do kids need snacks?
Yes…and CF kids need more than most kids.
Children need snacks in order to maintain healthy energy levels and to get the nutrients their growing bodies need. In general, I recommend that you offer your younger children three meals and three snacks daily. As kids get older, 1-2 snacks per day may be enough. Your CF child of any age may need more calories, so 3 higher calorie snacks may be in order (high calorie protein shake, nut butters and other higher calorie dips and spreads)
Not all snacks are created equal. Many snacks that kids love, even the ones that seem healthy, aren’t offering quite as much nutrition as you’d guess. Many snacks are high in added sugar and other additives that are not nourishing your child’s best health. That's why it is important for us, as parents and caregivers, to cultivate healthy habits when kids are young, even at snack time.
What does "healthy" mean?
There are many healthy snacks you can feed your kids, but it's important to know what healthy means. Healthy snacks can mean a few different things, but I suggest that you focus on snacks that are low in added sugar and rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, most of the time.
Here are five tips to help you teach your child healthier snacking habits!
Tip 1: Pair Two Foods
For optimal nutrition and satisfaction, I recommend that you offer different foods groups when offering snacks to your kids. Not only does this give you the opportunity to make a more satisfying snack, but it also gives your child more variety throughout the day.
Some healthy food pairings are:
● Freeze-dried strawberries and dry cereal
● Crunchy chickpeas and raisins
● Carrots and tortilla chips dipped in guacamole
● Sweet potato hummus and crackers
● Frozen yogurt with berries (freeze coconut yogurt with a few blueberries or raspberries in mini muffin tray)
● Dates stuffed with nut butter
Offering more than one food item is also helpful for gently exposing picky eaters to different foods that might be out of their comfort zone for now. Keep the pressure off (no forcing a bite) and just make the experience fun.
And if your children are usually having processed and packaged snacks that you’d like to get away from, offer the new foods with the packaged snack instead of just taking the packaged snack away.
Tip 2: Vary the presentation
It takes anyone a while to get used to something that feels new. And for kids – especially our picky eaters – new can mean scary and uncomfortable!
Think about carrots. Baby carrots are one way to offer carrots to your kids as a snack, but there are other options, too!
You can also offer carrots in one of those pureed pouches where carrots are in the mix, shredded carrots for a different texture, roasted carrots for a different and sweeter flavor, and even peels of a large carrot (feel free to call them ribbons!).
Each time your child has a chance to get to know the food in a low-pressure environment, it helps to build their confidence and eventually try it (and maybe even like it!).
I remember when my kids were younger, the more fun I could make the food, the more likely they were to eat it. Like when I made whole grain pancakes and tried to sneak in some pureed veggies. I wasn’t sure the kids would eat them, so I used cookie cutters to make fun shapes and they ate them…no complaining because it was fun!
Tip 3: Keep the Portions Small
If you’re working on introducing new foods, snack time is a great opportunity because if they don't eat much (or any) of the new food, dinner is right around the corner. By the time dinner is here, everyone tends to be more tired and less patient, so it can feel more difficult to make progress at that time.
When offering new foods at snack time, keep the portions of the new food small. For your child, it makes the experience less overwhelming.
And if age-appropriate, use toothpicks or other fun tools to serve the food. As I said earlier, this keeps the experience more fun and playful for your kids, especially kids who can get overloaded with too much sensory information.
One of my favorite ways to offer after-school snacks is to serve them in a mini muffin form (like the yogurt and berry snacks) or on fun plates, or in cups (like trail mix in a cup or carrot sticks in one cup and hummus in the other for dipping)
Tip 4: Compare
You know what's fun and low pressure? Exploring!
Instead of forcing your child to “just take a bite,” make the new food feel interesting and fun. This is lower pressure and more fun for everyone, not just your child.
Try buying a few different varieties of a new food next time you're at the grocery store. For example, four or five different kinds of apples. And during an afternoon when you have some free time, ask your child to describe how the apples are different in terms of size, color, and smell.
Which one smells the best?
Next: cut very tiny slices of each type of apple and invite your child to try them. Which apple is the sweetest? Most sour? Crunchiest?
Have fun ranking and exploring: this is way more fun than commanding your child to try a bite!
Tip 5: Involve your child
The more that you're able to offer your child the opportunity to be involved, the better. For example, if you're shopping for healthy snacks at the grocery store, ask your child which two healthy snacks they want to try this week.
Next: You can also offer choices when it comes to how foods are prepared. For example, would your child like their apple sliced or diced? Would they like to eat it with a dip, like a nut butter?
Here’s a recipe for one of my favorite apple dips
Kids can do far more tasks in the kitchen than most parents would guess. Will it be slower and messier to get them involved? At first: yes! But with time, their skills will grow (and the mess will slowly diminish).
Your child is going to be more open-minded about foods that they've helped to prepare.
Favorite snack recipes
If you need some ideas of healthy prepared snacks you can easily find at the store for your kids, try some of these that my family loves:
Dark Chocolate bars (with or without nuts)
Trader Joe’s pre-packaged trail mixes
Sabra Roasted Pepper Hummus with Pretzels
Saffron Road Chickpea Snacks
Perfect Bars (in refrigerator section of Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s)
Organic Greek yogurt (plain with kids unique toppings added like berries, cacao nibs, nuts or nut butter, coconut)
Mama Chia fruit squeeze
Final Thoughts
Being a parent of a child with CF is challenging. Being a parent at all in an environment with so many snack options can be very difficult. Your CF child has unique needs, and by partnering with a certified health and nutrition coach, you will learn how to conquer snacktime with proven strategies to support the health of your CF child and your whole family. I can’t wait to show you how I can help, so set up a free consultation here and let’s talk about your family’s needs.
References
Shield, Jo Ann. Kids Eat Right (2019, March 4). When Should My Kids Snack?
https://www.eatright.org/food/nutrition/dietary-guidelines-and-myplate/when-should-my-kids-snack