Teacher Tip: Snack Attack: Approaches to Healthy Snack Alternatives in Child Care

This month we feature an article written by two members of the national CDA Community, Candace Ingram and Sara Tours of Tallahassee, Florida. Thanks, Candace and Sara!

Snack Time is an essential part of a preschool child's day. It fills their basic needs and helps them get through their day. It is important for providers to remember that snack is not a meal and that it needs to provide nourishment for children.

All too often snack portions served in child care centers are oversized for the size of young children's tummies. The purpose of a snack is to children the nutrition they will need to make it to their next meal. Giving too much snack contributes to the obesity epidemic that is currently overpowering the United States. The epidemic is a result not just of large portion sizes but also of a lack of nutritional value in the food given to young children. Snacks often, for example, contain large amounts of sugar and carbohydrates.

It may seem easy and convenient to pour glasses of milk and hand out some cookies to the children. It can be just as easy to get out some baby carrots, hummus and glasses of water. If you do this, the children will consume less sugar and more nutrients. Prepackaged foods such as crackers, cookies and cereals should be replaced with fruits, vegetables and multi-grains. Consuming these types of food in the earliest years will help lay the foundation for healthy future snacking habits throughout life. Young children that eat healthy foods will be more likely to be healthier "snackers" as adults.

Milk is also an issue that is currently under scrutiny. Only in recent history, have humans begun to drink cows' milk. Although this provides calcium and other important vitamins, these vitamins can also be provided from foods such as oatmeal and green, leafy vegetables. Replacing milk with water is easy and much healthier for children. Even though the nutrients from cows' milk are important for a child's physical development, there may not be a need for such an emphasis if nutrients can be found through other means.

In today's fast-paced society it is easy to lose track of what is important over what is convenient. But we must look out for our future by addressing these issues now with our young children, helping them to find healthy snacks that will give them the proper energy to get through each day. It is actually not inconvenient to prepare healthy snacks and could actually be more cost-effective if a school uses a local grower for their produce.

One way that preschools can aid in the Snack Attack dilemma is to incorporate a nutrition curriculum with the lessons already being taught. The preschool educator can provide developmentally appropriate information to children that will impact their decision-making about eating choices for a lifetime. The school can provide pamphlets and other literature related to snacking to the parents or guardians of the children. A parenting class can be offered which would include a licensed nutrionist, as well as healthy snack samples for them to taste.

Teaching the children where their food comes from and allowing them to participate in a garden project will peak their interest and make it more fun to eat healthy foods that they have grown themselves. Field trips to healthy grocery stores may also provide new information and experiences that they may not be readily exposed to at home or at a national grocery chain where their parent may currently shop.

As educators, we know that a child who is fed poor quality food is less likely to perform at their top level. If parents, teachers and administrators all work together, our children can be properly fed and educated so they can grow to be the best they can be.

Candace Ingram and Sara Tours have years of experience in the Early Childhood Education field. They want to help shed light and give suggestions on the snack issues that many preschools face. Candace is the Director of Creative Child Learning Center in Tallahassee, Florida. Sara is the Assistant to the Director and has a current CDA.

If you would like to submit an early childhood-related article for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of CounciLINK, please send it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Current Newsletter