How Many Snacks Should Your Child Eat a Day?
There’s truth to the adage that every child is unique and special. As a parent, we have a front row seat to our child’s personality and will often catch glimpses of the lens through which they see the world.
Being a parent also opens the door to witnessing the more universal aspects of our child’s behavior centered on their wants and needs — such as their wanting to snack all day, and their need to include nothing more than a select few food staples as part of their picky eating routine.
Baked Smart Cookie knows about some of the challenges parents face when dealing with picky eaters. Striking a healthy balance between nutritious and sweet foods may be hard to put into practice during your little one’s snack time, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our smart cookies offer high quality ingredients to create a nutritious snack-time option that is certified USDA organic, non-GMO, vegan, and soy/peanut free.
A Child Enjoys and Benefits From a Consistent Feeding and Snack Schedule
Snacking is a significant part of every child’s development. Beginning at about 6 months to 12 months of age, children are able to have solid foods introduced into their eating schedule, while maintaining their main source of nutrition which includes breast milk and/or infant formula.
As solid food is introduced into a child’s meal schedule, parents begin to notice a change in the amount of food their child consumes and their eating frequency. Kids grow at an impressive rate, and the amount of food they eat equates to the amount of fuel they need to remain healthy and active.
As a general rule, children and teens should eat every three to four hours throughout the day to sustain the energy level for growing and active bodies. For younger children, eating three meals daily along with two snacks a day is optimal. Older kids need three meals, and should enjoy at least one snack a day, although they may benefit from two daily snacks if they’re going through a growth spurt, are involved in sports, or are generally very active.
Offer Your Child Healthy Snacking Choices
When it comes to finding snack solutions, parents should trust their instincts. Offer meals and snacks at predictable times, keeping in mind their activity schedules throughout the day. This includes considering offering snack time after school when kids are typically most hungry from a full day. Consider nutrient-dense foods that your child may be lacking in their diet which makes for great snacks that will improve your child’s nutrient intake.
Childhood is the perfect starting point on the path to making lifelong healthy eating decisions. Baked Smart Cookie was born of the idea that kids should have a healthy alternative to empty calorie, sugary treats. Our Baked Smart Cookies are created using organic and healthy ingredients, including eight different kinds of fruits and vegetables cleverly disguised within a chocolate chip cookie that no kid can turn away.
