Question:  My children 5 and 7 always say that they are hungry between meals, but I am afraid that they are gaining too much weight.  My 5 year old is getting pudgy. I want to give all my children healthy snacks without a lot of calories.  What should I do.

Answer:  It's great that you are concerned about your children's calorie intake.  It seems that children are always hungry, no matter how well nourished they are.  If possible, make sure you have regular meal times, so your children's systems become accustomed to eating at regular intervals.  If you have the time, make up a "menu" of snacks they are allowed to have and allow them to shop with you for the snacks or prepare the snacks.  keep portion sizes appropriate to their age, not to how the food comes packaged.  Set friendly limits on how many snacks they can have per day.  Some people like to give their children tokens at the beginning of the day which they can use as they like during certain hours.  You'd be surprised how good children get at hoarding their tokens and doling them out slowly when they have to do it themselves.

Here are some healthy snacks:
  • Air-popped popcorn
  • Whole wheat cold cereal (shredded wheat or cheerios)
  • Graham crackers
  • Pretzels
  • Toasted tortillas sprinkled with cinnamon or chili powder
  • celery and carrot sticks tomato wedges, bell pepper slices, jicima wedges
  • Fresh apple slices, orange sections
  • Frozen bananas
  • low fat or non fat yogurt mixed with cereal
  • fruit salad
  • Fruit smoothies made with low or non fat yogurt
Question: I've been told to watch my salt intake. In addition to not eating canned vegetables and not adding salt to my food, how can I be careful?

Answer: Ah, the quest for hidden salt. You'll need to become a real label reader. Here are some ingredients that are high in salt ( or sodium):

soy sauce
  • MSG ( monosodium glutamate)
  • anything with "sodium" or "salt" in the name, such as garlic salt or sodium bicarbonate
  • baking soda
  • baking powder
  • sea salt
Baked products, such as cookies, can be fairly high in sodium, although they don't taste salty. Read the labels, or be careful when you are baking.

Here are some more foods that are high in salt:
  • Canned soups ( unless low sodium)
  • Frozen meals ( unless low sodium)
  • Pickles and pickled vegetables
  • Snack foods, such as potato chips
  • Cake mixes
  • Boxed entrees and side dishes, such as macaroni and cheese or mashed potato mix
  • Deli meats, hot dogs and sausage