Talk to me about after school snacks

[DietCokeChipsAndMayo]

My children seem to be hungrier and hungrier every day after school and are eating more and more crap which obviously I don’t want
I’ve moved dinner time earlier which does seem to be helping but particularly the little 2 don’t really understand that food will be coming in an hour/hour and a half and you don’t need to fill up on lots of different things as soon as you get home
None of them like anything particularly ‘protein’y which is a problem as they seem to be mainlining carbs which obviously does next to nothing in keeping them going

What do you usually do for after school snacks?

Really early supper 4.30 then crumpets or similar about 7.30. If I do it the other way round they don't eat their supper.

Ds has a hot meal at around 3.30 then a snack around 7pm

@Orangejuicemarathoner LOL at 'fill up on celery'

Can you hear yourself? Hilarious

We have a snack basket which they can pick one thing from (biscuits, nuts, crisps etc), then they can have something from the fruit bowl if still hungry. I keep a tub of cheese strings, pepperoni sticks and hard boiled eggs in the fridge too so they can also have one of those.

That's at 3pm. Dinner is at 6pm.

@Orangejuicemarathoner

Nothing with carbs - thats just a step on the route to obesity. Half of these "snacks" are actually meals. Fill up with carrot sticks, or celery or fruit at a push. Fruit contains a lot of sugar, dont forget.

Or just have dinner earlier

You’re hilarious

I try to push oatcakes, peanut butter, fruit & veg. Sometimes I make "healthy muffins". Other times it's crisps

@Orangejuicemarathoner

Nothing with carbs - thats just a step on the route to obesity. Half of these "snacks" are actually meals. Fill up with carrot sticks, or celery or fruit at a push. Fruit contains a lot of sugar, dont forget.

Or just have dinner earlier

Not everyone can gave dinner earlier. Clubs, working from home etc all mean that cooking a meal at 3pm isnt possible.

[quote PippaOwl]@Orangejuicemarathoner LOL at 'fill up on celery'

Can you hear yourself? Hilarious [/quote]
no, its just what you are used to -

celery is filling, and quite strong tasting, if you like the taste you can learn to enjoy it as a snack. If not, there are other vegetable.

I don't actually see the need for any snack at all, tbh, but if you are going to give snacks, then at least start healthy habits, not habits that will lead to obesity, a life of poor health and an early death

Actually, this has made me want some celery now

One of mine can eat & eat but is a rake. I was similar, alas not anymore!

I think it gets easier as children get older and you start to know their preferred eating patterns. DD11 is a grazer and doesn't like big meals. Her school packed lunch is small so she's hungry when she gets home with about 3 hours until dinner.

I give her almost another packed lunch eg yoghurt, fruit, maybe some cheese or a handful of crisps and a slice of toast. The deal is that's it till dinner, no snacking. It seems to work well for her, but I arrived at it by thinking about how she likes to eat, and more or less divided her meals into 4 instead of 3 because that's what works for her.

I don't actually see the need for any snack at all, tbh, but if you are going to give snacks, then at least start healthy habits, not habits that will lead to obesity, a life of poor health and an early death

The ‘need’ for a snack is that they are hungry after a busy and active day at school.
Carbs will not lead to obesity and early death. Fruit and vegetables contain carbs.
My children do ballet, swimming, gymnastics, netball and hockey outside of school. A crumpet isn’t going to lead to their early death.
You are ridiculous.

I don't actually see the need for any snack at all, tbh, but if you are going to give snacks, then at least start healthy habits, not habits that will lead to obesity, a life of poor health and an early death

I think there's a need, if they are hungry or just growing. I don't subscribe to the view that a snack will make you obese & die early. I think good health & nutrition is a combination of things.

Today mine had cucumber, cheese and some home made low sugar cake.
Yesterday it was crumpets with peanut butter and sliced banana.

Usually it's some combination of fruit/veg sticks, crumpets/wraps/pitta, cheese/hummus/egg/peanut butter.

We don't have dinner til 6.30ish.

@Orangejuicemarathoner your attitude is incredibly disordered. And no, I'm not obese - I've been underweight nearly all my adult life, now just over BMI 18.5 (and it takes an effort). Carbs aren't the enemy you think they are.

As hollow-leg teenagers our lot, every day after school used to share a loaf of bread, a pound of cheese, a carton of milk and half a jar of jam and maybe a banana or two. Leaving only crumbs. This just barely kept them alive until their main cooked dinner at 6.

Our food bills were enormous during those days.

Peanut butter on a slice of sour dough and some grapes is a fave in our house
Hummus with cucumber and carrots is a good one as it takes a while for them to get through that.
If they do end up in the biscuit tin I don't give them a dessert after dinner so I can monitor their sweet intake. Friday's tends to a bit more relaxed and we will get sweets or an ice cream on the way home from school

My DC have sandwiches usually, or sometimes cheese and crackers. We do have dinner later though, not earlier, so they have time for 4 meals a day not 3 IYSWIM

7.30/8am Breakfast
12ish School dinner
3.30/4pm After school sandwiches
7/7.30pm Cooked meal

[quote Innocenta]@Orangejuicemarathoner your attitude is incredibly disordered. And no, I'm not obese - I've been underweight nearly all my adult life, now just over BMI 18.5 (and it takes an effort). Carbs aren't the enemy you think they are. [/quote]
well, I am a teacher, and see many many obese children - it has become normal to overeat, and be obese.

I think the mentality of "needing" a snack after school is disordered. Carbs spike your insulin levels, the extra spike every time you have a snack is likely to cause problems eventually

Today mine had some leftover over fish and a slice of bread from last nights dinner.

[quote PippaOwl]@Orangejuicemarathoner LOL at 'fill up on celery'

Can you hear yourself? Hilarious [/quote]
its what Im doing right now. Its very filling. If children are genuinely hungry, rather than just sugar addicted

well, I am a teacher, and see many many obese children - it has become normal to overeat, and be obese

Well mine aren’t overweight, so that suggests they’re eating exactly as much as they need. Even with their snack 🤷🏻‍♀️

Pepperammi sticks and an apple most days. Glass of milk.

celery, carrots, cucumber, there are any number of healthy snacks.

What is "disordered" is the number of mothers on here who think that the offer of a healthy snack is "hilarious"

Other than the fast growing puberty years, children shouldn't be needing a snack before dinner at all - its a very recent thing

@TheGrumpyGoat

well, I am a teacher, and see many many obese children - it has become normal to overeat, and be obese

Well mine aren’t overweight, so that suggests they’re eating exactly as much as they need. Even with their snack 🤷🏻‍♀️

what are they doing to their insulin resistance levels though?