Healthy refreshments for schoolchildren

• April 18, 2024

In schools, the time of playtime It is the most important moment of the school campus. Generally it lasts 30 minutes both in public and private schools. It is a period of rest where children play, talk with their friends and consume their food and drinks. Children can bring their own refreshment from home or have the opportunity to choose their food in school cooperatives, and in some cases share their snack with their classmates.

Refreshment plays an important role in school feeding, as it allows them to cover the energy and nutrients they need during the day. It is known by snack or lunch to a portion of food proportionally smaller than larger meals, but that complements the plan of feeding of the day The amount of food should be enough to provide the children with the necessary energy, but not enough to prevent them from having an appetite for the next full meal.

In the school stage, the basic rule of division of responsibilities continues. The managers (parents, grandparents, teachers, health team and school cooperative) are responsible for what food is offered and how this is done. Children, on the other hand, should grow up as they grow responsible how much they eat and, in fact, to eat or not to eat.

Health professionals and institutions agree that the snack should contribute between 15 and 20% of the total energy. The rest is distributed at breakfast, lunch and dinner (70%), and a time between meals outside school (10 or 15%). When planning a snack, you should take the deficient consumption of vitamins and minerals in the Mexican population and consider the health risks that excessive consumption implies: total, saturated and trans fats, sugar and sodium.

Healthy lunch

It is necessary that health professionals, parents and school provide the child with a frame of reference that allows him to choose a healthy snack. In his home the child observes the feeding habits of his parents, to the extent that these are appropriate the child will have more tools to be able to choose foods that favor their health. The purpose is to get the child to understand and apply his responsibility at the moment when he has to decide what to eat, such as the time of recess.

Encouraging the consumption of healthy snacks from childhood, can help to establish healthy habits and appropriate food for a lifetime.

Here are some suggestions to complement a healthy snack:

• Fruit: fresh, frozen, canned or dehydrated.
• Low-fat yogurt
• Raw and chopped vegetables, with lemon and chili.
• Wholemeal pancakes
• Low-fat popcorn.
• Integral cookies with low-fat cheese.
• Tuna in water, a surimi bar or a slice of fresh cheese.
• Paquetitos of cereal.
• Cereal bars.

More information at: www.inskelloggs.com

Video Medicine: 5 Easy After School Snacks (April 2024).