Call time on unhealthy snack breaks - top tips for healthier habits

As a nutritionist, the question I get asked most from parents (both friends and clients) is “what healthy snacks can I give my children?”.

A recent Public Health England campaign called ‘Change for Life’, said that the average 10-year-old has already consumed the maximum recommended sugar allowance for an 18-year-old. Much of this sugar is coming in the form of fizzy drinks, but a lot is from snacks. Too much sugar in the diet can lead to weight gain, and though there are no official statistics for weight in British Jewish children, NHS stats show that nearly 30% of children are overweight or obese when they leave primary school.

When kosher may not be quite so kosher:

As Jews, our culture celebrates food and our ethos is to ‘feed’, this can cause a difficult relationship around snacking. Many of our favourite snack foods are heavily processed and filled with unnatural ingredients. We all want the best for our children, and tackling the snacking issue can be a good place to start.

Children who are active, growing and learning have extra nutrient requirements that adults don’t, so snacks have an important part to play in their diet. However, if your kids are snacking too often, or consuming too much high sugar food in their snacks, this can create an issue.