Getting Kids to Eat More Fruit

Usually parents don’t have as many problems encouraging fruit intake because the sweet taste is more appealing. There are so many different types of fruit. Don’t get into a shopping rut of only buying bananas, oranges and apples. Try out different fruits, especially when they are in season.

Mango - sweet and syrupy when ripe they are full of vitamin C and beta carotene. Great in fruit salads.

Pomengranate - from the berry family it has sweet, delicious bright red seeds. They make a pretty addition to a salad.

Kiwi - peel off the fuzzy brown skin and the green interior has a citrus taste. Eat in slices or scoop out like a hard boiled egg. High in vitamin C and fiber.

Here are some ideas on how to get more fruit servings in each day.
1.    Instead of cookies, candy, or ice cream for dessert, encourage kids and adults to have fresh fruit.
2.    Pack up fresh fruit or package fruit for lunch or snacks at work and school. Delmonte makes some great portable fruits like their Fruit Naturals.
3.    Have dried fruit, like raisins, with cereal, salads, trail mix, and oatmeal.
4.    Slice up fresh fruit or microwave frozen fruit to top cereal, yogurt, and low-fat ice cream.
5.    Make a fruit smoothie with 100% fruit juice, like Tropicana orange juice, and add fresh or frozen strawberries and bananas, crushed iced, and some honey to sweeten.

Safe Snacking
Taking snacks with you to work and having healthy snacks available at home will help with weight control, promote good nutrition, and make it less likely that you or your kids will reach for high fat sweets, salty snacks, or sodas.

For many of us, having chips, cookies, candy, ice cream and sodas around is just too tempting. Consider keeping these items out of your house and having them an occasional treat instead of a staple. Stock your shelves and refrigerators with some of the following:
1.  Del Monte fruit cups
2.     Fresh fruit that is easily transported like apples and bananas
3.     Fresh vegetables that are easy to cut up and use for dipping like celery, broccoli and carrots and a low-fat dip like Just 2 Good Ranch dressing or making your own dip with Daisy Brand Light Sour Cream.
4.     Dried fruit like Sun Maid raisins, apricots or dried plums.
5.     Whole wheat bread and Skippy peanut butter.
6.     Yo Crunch yogurt

Please give me some ideas of low-carbohydrate and sugar-free snacks I can eat.

There are loads of foods that are naturally low in carbohydrates. The first thing is to know the food groups that contain the least carbohydrates: vegetables (non-starchy); meat, poultry, fish; dairy products such as cheese and cottage cheese; and, fats/oils.

Here are some examples of snacks that would be low in carbohydrates:
1.     Vegetables and dip. Use low-fat ranch dressing as a dip, or make a dip using Daisy Sour Cream.
2.     Beef or turkey jerky, Dietz & Watson lunch meat, Bumble Bee canned tuna or salmon.
3.     Borden cheese.
4.     Cottage cheese and vegetables.
5.     Nuts.
6.     Skippy Peanut Butter or Soy Nut Butter and celery.
7.     Edamame (Soy Beans) - boiled with a little salt or sodium-free seasoning like Mrs. Dash grilling blends.

Leah McGrath, RD, LDN
Corporate Dietitian - Ingles Supermarkets
Phone: 800-334-4936
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