Healthy Foods For Kids

Are you looking to sneak in some healthy foods for kids? While raw carrot slices with ranch dip or peanut butter-covered celery might appeal to adults, children will turn their noses up at such snacks. What can you do to make sure you're serving healthy foods for your kids?

First, children do not want to ingest anything that "doesn't look right." Even if you know they will love it, they will not take a nibble at anything that is the wrong color or consistency. Fruit ranks high as one of the healthiest snacks a kid can eat. But many other foods will fill their tummies without the calories, fat and sugar they do not need.

Try the following:

Baked potato or tortilla chips. Fried chips have half their calories in fat, while baked chips only have about 10 percent of their calories in fat. You can even opt to make your own chips at home for a very healthy snack.

Fruit bars. Fig Newtons and raisin biscuits provide potassium and fiber, while being low in fat. Once again, if you make your own fruit bar, you can control the ingredients or even substitute things like eggs for egg whites, or use apple sauce and honey, instead of sugar.

Frozen fruit bars. These healthy foods for kids have real fruit chunks in them. During a hot summer day, this frozen treat is both fat-free and delicious.

Fruit juice. Good old-fashioned juice, with no sugar added, is refreshing. You should only get juice that is 100 percent fruit. Otherwise, you might end up with a beverage with as many calories in it as a can of soda pop.

Fruit smoothies. A personal favorite, fruit smoothies are a nutritious, delectable snack. I like to throw orange juice, banana and blueberries into my Magic Bullet for my toddler. I also sometimes add yogurt to make for a filling drink.

The bottom line: healthy foods for kids cannot look healthy. Be creative, and grab some kid-oriented cookbooks, so your child can help you prepare his snacks. Being involved with the prep work makes a child feel satisfied with eating his very own concoction.

Terez Howard, a freelance writer and proofreader, specializes in money-saving and family-related topics. If you're looking to introduce your child to music, check out http://www.toddlerdrumset.net which explains the benefits of owning a toddler drum set.

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