Snack Food

There is nothing wrong with snacking, but many snack food choices are high in fats, sugar, salt and contain no nutritional value.  Many people snack on biscuits, cakes, lollies/sweets, potato crisps, soft drinks and pastries.  These are all high in calories and lack any nutritional benefits, so can lead to further snacking as the body craves more (nutritious) foods.

What Are Some Good Snack Foods?

Swap unhealthy snacks for healthy snacks:

• almonds and pecans instead of salted peanuts
• shaved turkey breast instead of sausage rolls
• air-popped popcorn instead of potato chips
• Greek yoghurt instead of sugary dessert packs
• fruit salad instead of lollies/sweets/chocolates
• sprinkle walnuts on salad instead of croutons
• snack pack of sultanas or dried fruit and nuts instead of a pastry
• frozen banana instead of an icecream
• cup of hearty soup instead of two minute noodles
• slice of wholemeal bread with avocado and tomato instead of a hamburger

Drinks are often taken as snacks in-between meals.  During the day replace sugary drinks with diet versions, drink tea and coffee without added sugar, or try the huge variety of herbal teas available, such as green tea, lemon tea with ginger, peppermint tea or licorice tea.  Pure water (with a squeeze of lemon if preferred) is best for your kidneys and drinking 8-10 glasses a day will help fill you up between meals, as well as keep you healthy.

In the evenings, switch to wine; as it has a tenth of the carbohydrates, calories or sugar of a cocktail.  If you drink red wine, you'll also get antioxidants such as flavonoids that are believed to lower harmful LDL cholesterol and boost good HDL cholesterol. 

Should Kids Eat Snacks?

Children are always growing, and so need good nutrition to feed the extra energy they need on a daily basis.  Snacks for kids need to contribute to their overall recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates and fibre, protein and some good fats.  They need good food sources for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as for morning and afternoon snacks.  A snack after dinner can still be a healthy treat.

Advertising aimed at children encourages them to want snacks that are not good for them to have on a regular basis.  As long as you feed your kids a healthy diet, fill them up with nutritious snacks, limit some of their exposure to television advertising so that they don't demand junk food all the time, then a 'naughty' treat can be acceptable as an occasional snack food.