“A child who does not eat in a balanced way can suffer growth and development disorders leading to malnutrition, anemia, dental problems, learning, obesity, among others,” said María Fernanda Argueta Muñoz, nutritionist at the Metropolitan Hospital.
With the start of the 2022 school year, nutrition specialists recommend that the school snack contain fresh products with high nutritional value. Likewise, foods with a high content of sugar and saturated fat should be limited.
The adoption of good eating habits during childhood contributes to the correct growth and development of the child, and also helps prevent obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, among others.
If a child does not eat healthy snacks, it significantly affects their learning, decreases concentration, the ability to solve problems and muscular coordination, according to Argueta.Snacks should provide between 10-15% of the total caloric value between all meal times.
Some examples of nutritionist-approved snacks are:
- Include all food groups such as fruits, vegetables, dairy products, protein, fats or flour.
- Banana pancakes
- Egg and vegetable muffins
- Lentil sticks or cakes
- Bean, ham and cheese burritos
- Mini pita sandwich
- Ripe plantain dumplings with beans and spinach
- Cauliflower Pizza
- Fruit ice cream with yogurt (ground oatmeal or seeds can be added)
Avoiding child obesity
Argueta calls on parents to reduce the consumption of sugar in their children’s snacks and thereby keep them healthy. And it is that childhood obesity is a public health problem, both globally and nationally, since 34% of this age group is overweight, according to the 2016 Costa Rica Weight/Height School Census.
“One way to get children to eat their healthy snacks at school is to involve them in the purchase and preparation,” concluded the specialist.
