Cheap healthy playground snacks

thriftlady_2

Thanks toothsmith,your advice has been really useful.I've just told my dd she can't have apple juice until lunchtime,she threw a bit of a strop but has settled for milk.I'm completely reassessing my 'snack policy',they're allowed one A.M and one P.M but I think I'll endeavour to phase out the A.M snack.They do seem ravenous after school though.My dear old Mum reckons they need sugar for energy :rolleyes: I think that's a ration-generation thing.

Spendless

thriftlady wrote:

.They do seem ravenous after school though.

Yes so's mine. And I know it isn't cos he's leaving his dinner cos the dinnerladies give them a sticker if they eat all their dinner and he regularly gets one. Also he was the same when he used to go to for 2.5 hours a day at afternoon nursery.

Toothsmith

I honestly do not work for the banana marketing board ( ), but a banana after school will give a good hit to the blood sugar without damaging the teeth.

You see loads of sports stars munching away at them in rest periods (tennis players spring to mind). This is why. Natures own energy boost. Tooth friendly. Milk has sugar in the from of lactose as well. Lactose is not metabolised by the bacteria in the mouth though, and so is safe.

All sucrose type sugar does is give a quick hit to the body that then goes away very quickly, leaving the person lower than when they started.

A Marmite sandwich on wholemeal bread is a good energy boost as well, and totally tooth safe.

Spendless

marmite_pale_ . I suppose he might like it :cool: We already eat wholemeal bread. Might try a banana sandwich instead (no butter).

thriftlady_2

Toothsmith wrote:

A Marmite sandwich on wholemeal bread is a good energy boost as well, and totally tooth safe.

But what about the salt?

I'm sure feeding children didn't use to be this difficult.Every time I give them something to eat I have to decide whether it's good for their teeth,bodies and brains(re.behaviour),whether they might have an anaphylactic reaction to it(dd is allergic to nuts and eggs)and I also consider how the food has been produced,whether it's locally grown(hence all the apples),airmiles and of course how much it costs.It's a good thing I don't work as feeding my family takes it out of me _pale_

Toothsmith

Salt doesn't rot teeth - so I've no interest!!!!

I do cycle a fair bit, so have read a few articles on sports nutrition. Only as a layman though in stuff available at WHSmiths! (Cycling Plus - excellent magazine!!)

Marmite is quite salty, but after sports, you've sweated out a fair bit of salt anyway.

This could be applied to a playground scenario as well, where the little darlings have lost a fair bit of NaCl throughout the day. I know my no 2 son can become a little sweat bucket after a good play!! (Much like his Dad!)

arkonite_babe

What about dried fruit? I bought a bag of Lidl dried fruit tonight as a snack. Would the sugar content in it be too high for kids as a snack??

Toothsmith

Dried fruit is sugary. Because it's dried, it concentrates and crystalises I think.

Not too sure of the exact science, but I remember it should be avoided as a snack from a dental health point of view.

jackbremer

give em a carrot and kick em out the door

black-saturn

I started off by giving my daughters OS playground snacks (not necessarily healthy though) like HM malt loaf, slice of fruit cake or cheese straws but all their friends laughed at them and they wanted crisps and a kitkat after a while.