Now that a new sports season has started, I’m reminded how inevitably the coach or one of the moms wants to put together the snack list –- who’s going to bring the snacks to each game. The kids should definitely take a water bottle so they don’t get dehydrated, and their own protein bar or whatever they need to get through longer events, but why can’t they make it through 60 minutes of playing without a snack? And most parents bring sugar and dye snacks, like a bag of Doritos and a Gatorade. Gatorade was developed for serious athletes (Florida Gators), not when sitting with a friend or even standing out in right field for 20 minutes. Even when we’re at games scheduled to end at lunch or dinnertime, the kids all run over and get their snack. Families that use a weekly plan are the minority – we already know what we’re making for dinner and the unhealthy snack is especially not welcome. And if a parent forgets the snack, you have some kids whining because the snack is the highlight of their game.
But when did every kid’s event start requiring a snack? At our house when I was growing up, if it wasn’t a mealtime you didn’t eat. At Grandma’s we had milk and a cookie after school or before bed. Now we are more conditioned to snack throughout the day starting in childhood. Dividing your three major meals into smaller meals is different; I mean people eating processed snack foods between their meals, and into the evening eating right up until bedtime. I saw one unfortunate girl, about 8 years old and obese, walking out of the grocery store with her mom while eating out of a full-size bag of Cheetos that they opened before they even got to the parking lot.
For mid-day hunger, definitely keep a bowl of fruit to pick from between lunch and dinner, and the kids can take from there after school or on weekend afternoons. I’ll work on a post about keeping meals on schedule and how the body benefits from a break to digest between dinner and breakfast time.
