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South of Boston |
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EAT TO LIVE SCHOOL SNACK ATTACK Best foods come in their own wrapper School snacks are convenient for time-strapped parents, but are they nutritious? Supermarket shelves are spilling over with cleverly marketed choices; don't get duped. Whenever possible, choose the least processed snacks. Hint: They generally come in their own wrapper - a banana, an orange, carrots. You simply can't beat the powerful nutrients inherent in natural, plant-based foods. Yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, whole grain cereal and milk are also good choices to boost your child's calcium and protein intake. Skip the fruit snacks; they are nothing but sugar and dyes. Ditto for pudding snacks, a poor source of calcium and protein and loaded with sugar. (Twenty percent of the Daily Value for calcium on a label is a good source.) Many parents look for snacks low in total fat and trans fat, which is a good idea, but also consider what the snack is actually providing. Goldfish, Cheez-Its, Teddy Grahams and other starch-type snacks are made with refined white flour, which has been stripped of many beneficial nutrients. Save these snacks for once in a while. Choose snacks that are made with whole grain, contain more than 1 gram of fiber and less than 2 grams of saturated and trans fat combined per serving, and do not contain food dyes. Joan Endyke is a registered dietitian and a certified personal trainer. She has a master's degree in nutrition and food science. She is the nutrition director at Fitness Unlimited. - Joan Endyke |
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South of Boston Media Group, 400 Crown Colony Drive | ||||||