Do you have questions about healthy snacking? Ask PHE’s expert for a chance to win a £150 voucher NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Making healthy choices when it comes to your children’s snacks (especially if you’re under the demands of pester power) can be difficult.

Change4Life is supporting you in making healthier snack choices, and they have Orla Hugueniot, Senior Nutritionist on board to help answer your questions on healthy snacking.

Here’s what Change4Life has to say: ‘The new Change4Life campaign aims to help families choose healthier snacks and cut back on sugar. The campaign reveals the surprising fact that children are getting half their sugar from snacks and sugary drinks between meals. To help parents take action Change4Life are introducing a simple new tip – ‘Look for 100 calorie snacks, two a day max’ - to help parents purchase healthier snacks and provide a suggestion for how to keep snacking in check each day. For lots of ideas for healthier snacking for kids and money-off vouchers, search Change4Life.’

Here’s some more information about Orla Hugueniot:
“Orla Hugueniot is the campaign nutritionist team lead at Public Health England (PHE). Since joining PHE in 2014, she has led the provision of expert nutrition advice for PHE Change4Life campaigns including Sugar Swaps (Jan 2015), Sugar Smart (2016) and Be Food Smart (Jan 2017) and Snack Smart (Jan 2018). Orla is a PHE spokesperson and has extensive experience with the media (both UK and Australian) including radio interviews and several TV appearances. She was previously a spokesperson for the FSA. She has worked with journalists in mainstream print media as well as the more specialised health press. Her previous experience includes working at the UK’s Food Standards Agency as a Senior Nutrition Scientific Officer, and as an independent nutritionist for public health nutrition campaigns in Australia. Her qualifications include an Hons BSc degree in Human Nutrition from King’s College London and a Diploma in Science Communication from Birkbeck University (University of London). Orla is a member of the UK and Australian Nutrition Societies.”

Ask Orla your questions about healthy snacking by 22nd January and we’ll select 10-15 questions for them to answer and post their responses as soon as possible. All who post a question below (whether it’s answered or not!) will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £150 voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

do children need snacks? There's a lot of emphasis on healthy snacks but why not just avoid snacks and eat healthy, filling meals?

Also, why is low fat fromage frais recommended rather than full fat natural yogurt? I thought young children should have full fat dairy?

Are there any views about whether any processed foods are ok as snacks in any way or is sticking to fresh fruit and veg always best

From what age does the 100 cal snack apply? My daughter is 7 months old - what would be suitable calorie wise to feed her as a snack? I don’t want to overfeed her!

Muesli bars made with oats and fruits often have the same percentage of sugar by weight as biscuits made with white flour and refined sugars.

Are muesli bars any healthier than biscuits? Is there any benefit in choosing them over biscuits with a similar sugar profile?

not really a question but more an idea- it would be great to have school backing on this as playtime snacks that can be purchased in school arent the best in my opinion.

i notice alot of unhealthy options at my childrens school yet lunchbox police are quick to point the finger at parents.

what constitutes a healthy snack in your opinion?
what calorie content are you aiming for snack to be?

My perception is that the nhs and other government departments are really outdated in their advice regarding fats and sugars i.e. Recommending low fat things, not focusing on sugars/carbs.
Is this fair and accurate?

Dried fruit has alot of sugar. Is it healthy or not?

On after school club days, my DC have 5.5 hours between lunch and supper. What should I be sending with a 6yo and a 10yo for pre club snacks?

Any thoughts on snacks for children undertaking prolonged exercise?

Inspired by this thread, I've just switched my DC's Graze variety box to a light box. The snacks do still go up to 150 calories each though.

My children aren’t overweight and burn off a load of energy! Why on earth do I need to limit them to two 100kval snacks? Surely you’re just trying to target overweight kids.. and the parents who fail to see they are overweight

I've got a very physically active teenage son who happens to have a small apetite. I worry that he is using up more calories than he currently intakes and was wondering if during puberty should he be snacking more?

I need suggestions for lunch box snacks. My son takes sandwiches or crackers, water, a box or veg sticks/cherry tomatoes, a peperami and either a packet of crisps or a packet of mini biscuits.

I need ideas for non-chilled snacks (occasionally DS will have a frozen Frube so that it is defrosted and cold at lunch time) as no chiller facilities at school.

They are not allowed to take any nut products into school so homemade flapjacks, granolla bars etc are out.

I just want to be able to pack a varied lunch that is healthy but 'young minded'

What age children is this new policy aimed at?

Why is snacking bad? So long as my children are getting the right amount of healthy food I couldn't give a shit if it comes in 3 square meals or as loads of little snacks.

My 7 year old son is never full.

He has three large meals a day,lunch and dinner is always a cooked meal.
But because he has an insatiable appetite,he probably has about 5 snacks a day.

He is tall and slim for his age,and very active,so I didn’t think the snacking was a problem.

Is the “two snacks under 100 calories” rule for every child,even if they are really slim?

Ahould i be looking for snacks that are labelled low fat / low sugar or just be looking at the calorie content?

i think its so dangerous to get kids into counting calories.or for us to do so for them.surely we just need to teach people balance.and everything in moderation.teach portion sizes and how to stable hunger but not binge.
to get them excited about looking after their bodies would good fruit and veg and allowing to treat themselves to.in balance.
especially in this day and age when people and kids are more aware of there self worth or lack of and body image issue.we need to be teaching them not good and bad foods or how to count the numbers .but to listen to their bodies to leanr to feed for enojoyment and health.
this is another quick fix for the big wigs less money less time but big schemes.without a thought for the actual people they are putting them onto.
and th after effect scare me

Would love some snack ideas for my teens to take to school, instead of the usual crisps or cereal bar.

What are the best healthy snacks for a 4 year old ?

Why are a lot of the under 100 calorie snacks processed & full of dairy?

I have dairy & soya free children & a toddler just coming out of fussy food stage & trying to focus on fruit & veg those ideas barely seem to encourage that.

Shouldn’t we be focusing on ways to batch make/cook healthy snacks for a wide range of ages & allergies/intolerances?

& I’ve found by allowing more snacks, less is eaten at meal times but if I follow the Nursery timetable of a snack before 10 & one at 3pm the toddler eats his meals. Shouldn’t something like this be encouraged?

My question is:
How do you balance reducing sugar without giving too much salt?

I already try to reduce the number of sugary snacks that my children eat but I worry that I am now feeding them too much salt.

For example, typical savoury snacks in our household are breadsticks, Mini Cheddars, seaweed, cheese, crisps, crackers, buttered crumpet, half a bagel.

Are these above recommended salt intakes? I never look at calorie content (for myself or the children).

Sweet snacks are bananas, grapes, mini chocolate bars, a couple of biscuits. We avoid dried fruit due to sugar content, and they're not allowed nut products at school.

My daughter is fruit mad and will happily eat punnet after punnet of strawberries, blueberries etc if I let her. The big one at the moment is apples.

Are some fruits better than others? I worry about the sugar content and her teeth as she’s 2.

Thanks

What is the definition of a snack? If it is something you eat in addition to three emails a day, what is it if you don’t eat three meals a day? If it is something eaten away from the table, what happens if you don’t eat all your meals at a table? If you eat your dinner than some pudding an hour later, is that inherently better then eating your dinner and a ‘snack’ an hour later?

I don’t understand the definitions. My children don’t always eat three meals a day. I personally rarely do. We nearly always eat an evening meal together. I’m a good cook and we have a vegetable garden. We suggest eating when hungry. There is always food on offer. But at what point does it get termed a ‘snack’ rather than just food?