When asked what some of their common snacks were, students responded with this collection of photographs.
Would you say that these types of snacks are common in your household?
Hello! I'm Michelle Stern, owner of What's Cooking with Kids, a certified green mobile cooking school for children, and author of The Whole Family Cookbook - Celebrating the Goodness of Locally Grown Foods. I am excited to be back in the classroom, teaching high school biology in the Bay Area. |
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We have lots of those different types of snacks. I prefer to lean towards healthy, but some of the not-so-healthy always ends up sneaking in. I work hard to encourage balanced eating and teaching why they should make the healthy choice most of the time…it’s hard. But, I can see from these pics from teens that parents encouragement is working some of the time
I noticed that some of these photos were pretty healthy!
It’s actually been pretty easy to change over for our son. The problem comes in when friends come over and need a snack. So here’s what we have: organic popcorn, vege sticks, cut up fruit, organic cheese sticks, plain yogurt with stevia and fruit. It’s not the Doritoes they are used to but they all seem pretty happy about the variety that they don’t normally get.
I find that most kids are excited to eat “snack” foods if they taste good and look similar to what they are used to. Popcorn is a favorite around here, especially when I pop it in coconut or olive oil. Mmmmm.
My teens have seen both the healthy and the not-so-healthy come through our doors. My question to them (as a nutritionist/Mom) is “How did you feel after eating that less healthy food? Did you notice how unnatural the flavors are?” I like to help them focus on how their body responds to the junk compared to the healthy protein-carb snacks I also offer.
That’s a really good idea. I don’t think that most people consider how food makes them feel…unless they are “stuffed.”