It’s that time of the year! We’re back to school and/or work after 2 months of Summer break. Beginning of the school year can be a great time to prioritize our health and nutrition again with more predictable routine in our day! Many parents struggle with what to pack for school lunches and snacks, we answered some of the most common questions for back to school nutrition.
Whether you’re packing snacks from home, or grabbing something pre-made from the grocery stores, we have curated some of the best options for you! Read on for more creative ways to start your snacks, and scroll down to see our top picks for pre-made back to school snacks!
Let’s start with some fun trivia about school snacks (scroll below to check your answers!) :
- What school snack can be paired with hummus, sometimes canned, and have more vitamin C than your average navel orange?
- What fresh fruit can be kept fresh for up to a year if it’s kept cold enough (hint: they also pair nicely as a school snack, with sliced cheese!)
- Which food is readily used worldwide, essentially never expires, and can be paired with peanut butter inside a sandwich for an after school snack?
What make good school snacks?
Good school snacks should be easy to eat and appealing to kids. After all, if your kids won’t eat it, it doesn’t matter how nutritious it is, right? Look for options to incorporate whole grains, protein and fiber to keep energy levels steady throughout the day. These snacks should be portable, easy to pack, and safe at room temperature, making them an easy option for busy school days.
Aim for protein and fiber in your school snacks
Protein is an essential nutrient for growth and development. Not only is it used for building muscles, it helps stabilize blood sugars throughout the day so that kids can maintain their energy levels and focus without sugar spikes and crashes. Protein is also important for a strong immune system, which we all know how vital this is when kids are constantly exposed to germs at school!
Fiber is important for so many different health benefits, and important for helping to support our healthy gut bacteria, a healthy immune system and prevents constipation. Adding in fiber rich foods with every meal and snack can be a great way to help your kids get more fiber throughout the day.
Fiber is found in plant foods such as fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. The general recommendation for fiber for children is about 19-38 grams of fiber per day, depending on their age. However, most kids eat much less fiber than this amount. This is where school snacks can be help boost their fiber intake.
Low in added sugar snacks
While we don’t need to be completely avoiding sugar, we do want to pay attention to how much added sugars is in the snacks. As a general rule of thumb, aim for <10g sugars per serving when looking at packaged foods such as cereals, granola bars, yogurts.
Trying to reduce intakes of sugars can be a great way to ensure our child’s diet is packed with nutrients and allowing most of the energy they’re consuming to be coming from nutritious foods, keeping them fuller for longer and powering them through school as well as extracurricular activities and those playground evenings.
Nut and allergen free snack options
Many schools have a nut-free or peanut-free policy in their classroom; furthermore, there may be students with severe allergy to other foods which could prompt the teacher to implement more restrictions in that classroom to keep the student safe. We always appreciate the nut and allergen free options in the shcool setting.
Best 10 school snacks to pack
Here are some of our top 10 snack choices. We chose these snacks with focus on nutrient dense ingredients, nut free and dye free options. Nutrient dense ingredients include ingredients that are packed with nutrients that are vital for our children, such as heart healthy fats, protein and vitamins. We chose nut free options because a lot of schools have a nut-free policy due to food allergies.
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- Greek yogurt with nut-free granola
Fiber 2g, Sugars 15, Protein 10g
This option is a great source of protein, which is an important nutrient to support proper growth and development for kids - Three Farmer’s snack pack
Fiber 2-3g, Sugars 0g, Protein 3-4g
Legumes such as chickpeas, fava beans and lentils are a great source of fiber and protein, and this can be a great snack option to get your child to open up to different ways to incorporate the different kinds of wonderful legumes - That’s It mini fruit bars
Fiber 2-3g, Sugars 9-10g, Protein 0-1g
While fresh fruit is a sweet treat, sometimes fruit can get squished in our lunch boxes. These 2 ingredients fruit bars can help get more fruits into our day when fresh fruit isn’t feasible - Triscuits with baby bell cheese
Fiber 2g, Sugars 0g, Protein 7g
Sometimes, we just need to go back to the basics with a simple cheese and cracker - Edamame beans with sesame seeds
Fiber 5g, Sugars 2g, Protein 14g
A simple snack. It’s easy to make a batch and save them for the week - Roasted edamame beans with mandarin oranges
Fiber 10g, Sugars 13g, Protein 21g - Wasa crackers, snack size hummus
Fiber 6g, Sugars 0g, Protein 7g - Whole grain melba toast with canned tuna
Fiber 4g, Sugars 2g, Protein 21g - Heavenly Hunks Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies
Fiber 1g, Sugars 7g, Protein 1g - Smoked tofu with sliced cucumbers
Fiber 1.5g, Sugars 3g, Protein 15.5g
Top 10 granola bars for kids
We often come across these three challenges when it comes to finding the best granola bars for kids, similar to challenges with choosing a healthy breakfast cereal :
- typically granola bars contains nuts (this make it challenging for parents to pack for school),
- many granola bars are high in sugars, out of all the granola bars we have analyzed over 75% of them contains more than 10g Sugars per serving
- don’t confuse granola bars with protein bars, protein bars typically have added protein powders and/or sweeteners which we do not typically recommend for kids
We love granola bars, not only they are portable and makes a quick easy snack, they can be jam packed with nutrition and shelf-stable! When looking for a granola bar, check that they are nut free, food dye free, < 10g sugars, at least 2g fiber, and at least 1g protein per serving.
IMPORTANT NOTE : *Some of these products may contain nuts and this is not a guide for choosing safe food for food allergies, but rather a list of granola bars that do not contain nuts that are suitable for school purposes*
These options below are found in our local Canadian grocery stores and fits with our criteria above :
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- Go pure oatmeal bars
Fiber 2-3g, Sugars 6-7g, Protein 2g - Nature valley lunchbox granola bars
Fiber 5g, Sugars 5-6g, Protein 1-2g - Healthy Crunch granola bars
Fiber 4g, Sugars, 2g, Protein 2-3g - KIND healthy grains bars (Oats & Honey with Toasted Coconut, Blueberry Vanilla)
Fiber 2g, Sugars 7-8g, Protein 2-3g - Cliff kids Z bar
Fiber 3g, Sugars 10g, Protein 2g - Taste of Nature key lime pie flavor
Fiber 2g, Sugars 7g, Protein 2g - Kashi Soft Baked Cereal Bars (Strawberry or Cocoa 7 Grain)
Fiber 3, Sugars 9-10g, Protein 1-2g - Kashi 7 Grain with Quinoa Bars (Chocolate Chip Chia or Apple Cinnamon Flax or Honey Oat Flax)
Fiber 3, Sugars 8-9g, Protein 3g - Free Yumm Soft Baked Bars (Honey Apple OR Chocolate Chip)
Fiber 2g, Sugars 6-8g, Protein 1-2g - Quaker Chewy Granola Bars (Fruity Fun)
Fiber 1-2g, Sugars 5-6g, Protein 1-2g
Conclusion
Sometimes we can over complicate meals and snacks when it comes to nutrition, let’s give ourselves a break and go to the simple meals and snacks that incorporate mostly whole foods (foods in their most natural forms) and have a good mix of protein and fiber. If you’re looking for more specific education on label reading, wondering how to find out what other products might be best for you or your family, or want to work on meal planning, book with one of our dietitians today!
Answers to the trivia questions in the introduction:
- Red peppers
- Apples
- Honey
References
Food Trivia Questions and Answers in 2024. (2024, August 07). Retrieved from Great Wolf. com: https://www.greatwolf.com/blog/food-trivia-questions-and-answers/
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