Choosing healthier snacks

Here at school we support the Change for Life initiative and we work closely with Phunky Foods. We expect children to bring healthier snacks to school. We don’t expect to see packets of crisps, chocolate biscuits or chocolate bars on our playground as we know that these snacks are not providing the right sort of energy and we want to promote healthier choices.

Of course our children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 already have access to a range of fruit and vegetables that they are provided at snack times.

For children in Key Stage 2 there are lots of ways to help your children have a healthier snack. Fresh fruit and veg are always a great choice for a snack but sometimes our children want other snacks, especially those in packages!

The Change for Life initiative suggests when buying packaged snacks, look for '100 kcals, two a day max'. It's to help you make quick decisions on packaged snacks when faced with lots of choice.

Why do we want healthy snacks?

High energy, sugary snacks will give children an energy burst but will quickly leave them wanting more in a small amount of time – often leading to continuous grazing between meals and resulting in less being eaten at mealtimes. A frustration for many parents!

Research in the UK shows us that children are eating more than double the maximum recommended amount of sugar per day, and that half of their sugar intake is coming from unhealthy snacks or drinks. If children eat too many high sugar foods over the long term this can lead to some serious health concerns including obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Encouraging children to eat less sugary snacks is an important health message.