The importance of healthy snacks for toddlers plus the choices

Toddler age is when your little one learns to recognize and try various types of new foods. This is where parents have an important role to play in sorting out the best food sources for toddlers. In addition to the main food, you also need to pay attention to sources of healthy snacks for toddlers. Then, what are the important things to consider? Here's the explanation.

Why are healthy snacks important for toddler growth and development?

In addition to the diet for toddlers, providing daily healthy snacks is also important for toddlers. Not only useful for introducing new types of food, healthy snacks are also intended to meet the nutritional needs of children under five.

Some of the reasons children need snacks, namely:

Small hull capacity

The child's stomach is still small, unlike the stomach of an adult, which can accommodate a lot of food in one meal. Therefore, children are advised to eat small portions but often.

If the child only eats 3 times per day like adults, then the child's needs cannot be met.

Energizing

Healthy snacks help provide the energy and nutrients the body needs to grow and develop, and to help maintain children's health.

Snacks help toddlers meet their needs because toddlers usually can't eat much, especially if they eat while sitting, toddlers generally don't feel comfortable sitting too long.

Keeps the child less hungry

Snacks serve to keep the child from getting too hungry between meals, so that the child does not overeat at main meal times.

This can help children measure their food portions and prevent children from overeating due to emotional factors. Snack can also prevent children from getting bored with food.

Snacks help provide additional nutrition

Snack or snack will help provide additional nutritional intake when the main food is not able to meet the daily nutritional needs of toddlers.

On the other hand, healthy snacks for toddlers can also be useful as a stomach booster before the main meal arrives. Even though the name is a snack, it's important to consider the nutritional content before serving it to your little one.

As a parent, your eating habits and patterns can certainly be very influential in shaping your child's diet.

What are the rules for providing healthy snacks for toddlers?

Regarding food, children aged 1-5 years are fond of trying new flavors and textures. He will be very enthusiastic when he sees food that he has never seen and tasted before.

So, it is very important to regulate the provision of healthy snacks to toddlers. Here are some things to note, quoting from Kids Health:

Healthy snacks for toddlers aged 1-2 years

Children aged 1 to 2 years are very active and often feel uncomfortable sitting on a chair even though their stomachs are hungry. In this phase, toddlers need 5-6 meals a day with 3 main meals and 2-3 snacks.

There are some healthy snacks for toddlers aged 1-2 years:

Cereals
Cut fruit (make sure it's small and soft so as not to choke)
Chopped or sliced cheese (slice)
Milk

Give a break between snacks after eating your main meal each day. This made him understand the toddler's eating schedule because he was used to it.

In addition, make it a habit to give snacks in small portions because the stomach size is still small compared to adults.

Healthy snacks for toddlers aged 3-5 years

What about toddlers aged 3-5 years? Curiosity is still a challenge for parents. The difference is, children at this age are able to express their feelings, for example saying "I'm hungry" or "I'm bored" and so on.

Healthy snacks for toddlers aged 3-5 years, namely:

Fruit cut with not too large slices
Vegetable slices
Milk or yogurt
Cheese or whole wheat chips

Avoid giving snacks in the form of sweets or cakes that are too sweet because they put your child at risk for diabetes.

Healthy snacks for toddlers, when should they be given?

Even though it seems trivial, knowing when to provide healthy snacks for toddlers is very important. Erratic timing of eating healthy snacks can lead to weight gain in children and ultimately lead to obesity.

In addition, the time to eat snacks that is not limited until the child feels full also has a negative impact on the child.

The negative impact is that it disrupts the child's appetite when eating the main meal and interferes with the child's hunger and fullness. How is the schedule for snack meals?

Children need to eat 5-6 times a day, consisting of 3 main meals and 2-3 interlude meals. For the time, children usually need to eat every 3-4 hours.

If you get your child accustomed to eating snacks or snacks and main meals on a regular basis, healthy eating habits will be formed slowly in the child and the child can also avoid gaining excess weight.

Good time for you to offer snack in children is a few hours after he finished the main meal and about 1-2 hours before the next main meal.

Delaying snack time a few hours after the main meal can prevent the child from refusing the next main meal and also prevent the child from wanting to eat more snacks.

How do you determine whether snacks for toddlers are healthy or not?

Actually, there are a variety of healthy snack choices that you can serve as a distraction in the middle of the main meal menu for toddlers.

Based on the Balanced Nutrition Guidelines issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health, it is best to limit toddlers from consuming snacks that are too salty, sweet, or fatty.

This is because foods and drinks that are too sweet, salty, and fatty can increase the risk of chronic disease later in life. These various diseases include heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and so on.

That is why you are more advised to prepare healthy snacks for toddlers. You can choose foods that are rich in various nutrients, such as protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Conversely, as much as possible avoid giving packaged foods that have gone through a lot of processing.

The reason is because this type of food usually contains a lot of sugar, salt and fat, which should be limited by toddlers.

In addition to considering the taste of healthy snacks for toddlers, also think about the shape and size of the food so that it doesn't make it difficult for children to eat it.

Because at this time, toddlers are actively learning to eat on their own. So, choose or form small foods that are easy to grip and bite by toddlers.

Of the various types of snacks, the following are considered healthy to be given to children under five:

Low-sugar breakfast cereals
Fresh fruit, thinly sliced or cut into small pieces
Wheat biscuits and mini-sized muffins
Cheese that is cut into thin slices or grated and mixed with food

Not only that, there are still various types of other healthy snacks that you can adjust to the preferences of toddlers aged 1-5 years. Don't forget, also consider certain types of food if your child has allergies.

Healthy snack options for toddlers at home

Given that snacks are very important to make toddlers healthier, there are several snack options that can be given to your little one while relaxing, namely:

1. Fresh fruit

Fresh fruit is the best choice as a healthy snack for toddlers. Give fruit with attractive colors, such as mango, strawberry, melon and orange.

Pack and serve attractively, for example, by printing or engraving on the flesh of the fruit. You can also use a plate with a cartoon motif or a favorite picture of your baby so that he is even more excited to eat his snacks.

Besides being able to stimulate his sense of taste with various tastes and textures, his sense of sight will also be trained by seeing color variations that he may never have seen.

2. Bread or fruit dip

While providing healthy snacks for toddlers who are getting to know food, parents can also train their children's creativity and motor skills from the snacks given.

You can provide yogurt, melted chocolate, or mayonnaise as a dip or dip for children's snacks.

Also provide bread or fruit as the main ingredient for a snack. Give a few slices of bread or fruit that can be dipped in sauce, yogurt or melted chocolate. Let the child hold, eat, and explore with the snacks they eat.

3. Eggs

Apart from fruit or bread, eggs can be a good alternative snack for children. You can give scrambled eggs or whole boiled eggs.

Besides being simple and delicious, this food is definitely nutritious which is good for supporting children's growth and development.

Also add sliced vegetables or mashed broccoli to increase the variety of nutritional snacks for children.

4. Popsicles

Which toddler doesn't like ice cream? Yes, instead of buying and not knowing what ice cream is on the market, you can make your own healthy ice cream for your little one, you know.

To prepare this healthy toddler snack, prepare fresh fruit juice, yogurt, and jelly as the main ingredients of the ice cream. Also provide ice cream molds with cute shapes and wooden sticks that aren't too long.

After that, mix all the raw ice cream ingredients, mix well, and enter into the mold with the wooden sticks. Place it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before giving it to your baby on a hot day.

5. Cheese

The protein content in cheese can support children's energy intake to remain high as long as they are playing and learning.

You can chop long cheddar cheese to the size of a child's grip, cut into small cubes to make a distraction on fresh fruit skewers, or as a filling for toast for children's school supplies.

But it's good not to give cheese if your toddler has a milk allergy or lactose intolerance which can make the child unhealthy.

6. Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamin A and are a good source of B6, C and folate for children's development.

You can bake them whole like a baked potato and add melted cheese and broccoli chunks on top. You can also slice the sweet potato thinly and then roast it as chips, or cut it lengthwise like french fries.

7. Mini pancakes or waffles

You can process the flour dough from scratch or use ready-to-prepare dry dough sold in stores. Add honey, maple syrup, and your little one's favorite fresh fruit as a topping.

8. Mini pizza

Prepare ready-to-prepare frozen pizza dough according to the packaging instructions, or you can make your own at home. Then, spread a tablespoon of marinara or tomato sauce on top.

Add some chopped vegetables and a tablespoon of grated cheese, then bake in the oven for a minute or two until the cheese is melted.

This snack for toddlers is healthier than buying outside because you choose the ingredients yourself according to your little one's needs.

9. Pasta

Pasta is a good source of complex carbohydrates, as long as you choose whole wheat pasta over whole wheat pasta.

Cook one batch to store in the refrigerator. When it's snack time, warm a bowl of pasta in the microwave and serve it with cooked veggies or chicken and a delicious tomato sauce.

What should be avoided in providing healthy snacks for toddlers?

Most parents will probably "bribe" their toddler by promising some gifts, such as candy or chocolate if the child is having trouble eating. Unfortunately, this is not really the right strategy.

Using candy or chocolate as a gift can create a distinct impression. It is possible, children under five will think that these foods are more valuable or better than other types of healthier snacks.

Actually that doesn't mean you shouldn't. It's just that children are not advised to eat candy or chocolate too often because of the very high sugar and calorie content. This is done so that children are not addicted to eating sweet.

If you do keep unhealthy snacks for your toddler at home, keep the food out of his sight. The reason is, children can whine and cry to ask for the food when they see it.