enfanta - little prices for little ones

we had a playdate the other day with some of my older daughter's friends at an indoor play area. it was a typical playdate for 3-year-olds: squealing, some squabbling, and of course, snacking. my daughter saw her playmates starting to munch so she wandered over to the coffee bar where they had all the kiddie snacks placed at her eye level. my daughter grabbed her preferred mid-morning morsel right out of the display area (chocolate milk and veggie straws) and made a run for the eating area.

of course, when we got home an hour later, my daughter had no appetite for a real lunch. "i'm not hungry!", she declared. which made me think about the nutritional value of those veggie straws and the sugar content in her chocolate milk. and then i was reminded of a New York Times article i read last week about how parents these days are raising a generation of snackers. instead of eating well-rounded, nutritious meals, our little ones are constantly grazing on chips, cookies and sugary drinks. A few choice tidbits from the article:

"...On average, children reach for cookies, chips and other treats about three times a day, consuming nearly 600 daily calories from snacks. That’s an increase of 168 snack calories compared with what children ate in the late 1970s..."

"...Although daily snack calories have increased by 168, overall daily eating during the study period increased by only 113 calories. This suggests that snacking has eroded meal time and that children are taking in slightly fewer calories during breakfast, lunch and dinner, when more healthful foods are typically served, because of their intense snacking habits... "

yikes! what the article said was totally true. at home, i thoughtlessly give my daughter snacks from time to time and then wonder why she isn't hungry for lunch or dinner. every playdate or child-oriented activity my older daughter attends has a correlating snack. it's almost as if a playdate just wouldn't be complete without a snack.

so, here's a late new year's resolution to cutting down on snacking and serving up healthier grub when a snack is requested. more fruits and veggies, less cookies and chips!