Snacking can pile weight on kids. But eliminating snacks can be impractical and even backfire, says a new study that suggests parents can instead help reduce kids’ snack calories by substituting high-nutrient dense snacks such as a combination of vegetables and cheese.
The study published online Dec. 17 in the journal Pediatrics involved giving snacks of potato chips, cheese, vegetables and a combination of cheese and vegetables to 201 kids in the third-to-sixth grades.
The kids were asked to watch a 45-minute cartoon, and asked to munch on their snacks they got until they felt full.
The combination-snack kids wound up eating 72 percent fewer calories than the kids who ate the potato chips. Those children who ate only cheese also ate less than those eating chips.
Giving kids veggies and cheese in place of non-nutrient dense snack foods could make snacking a good source of protein, calcium and fiber, the authors wrote. Kids who ate the combination snack ate about the same amount of veggies as those who ate just veggies, suggesting they didn’t replace vegetables with cheese but instead complemented their vegetables with a source of protein and calcium.
Read more: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/12/12/peds.2011...