CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A new study on snacks has some surprising results when it comes to your kids.
Researchers in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found in kids ages 5 to 7 years old only about half of kids get what they need each day by eating meals, but if you add snacks, those scores go up.
Researchers looked at something called the Healthy Eating Index in this study. They found kids who don’t eat between meals do get fewer calories, but they also don’t tend to get the fruits and vegetables they need each day.
While some kids do eat more sugary foods and drinks for snacks, others are able to get fruits, yogurt, carrots, celery and other vegetable snacks. Without the snacks, researchers found kids, on average, got less than one serving of fruit and barely half a serving of vegetables.
The idea is to get kids to eat healthy snacks by also having parents eat them as well.