Many children like to eat snacks in everyday life, and some of them even use snacks to take the place of the dinner. In order to maintain the normal meals and keep healthy, it is necessary for children to eat snacks regularly in their spare time. Many parents worry about that snacks are not beneficial to the health of their children. In fact, the regular and planned eating of snacks can supplement nutrients for children to some degree.

Some people think that snacks can make children fat. In fact, there is no necessary relationship between eating snacks and gaining weight, and the key of controlling weight is to control the intake amount of calories. The intake amount of calories should be equal to the consumption amount. If the intake amount is too high, the extra calories can be accumulated in the fat cells to increase the content of fat, which can cause obesity. In order to prevent the obesity, parents should help children choose suitable snacks and proper eating ways.

Some parents also worry about that eating snacks can cause dental caries among children. Eating snacks frequently can indeed cause dental caries. The contact of the teeth and snacks make dental plaque destroy the enamel by producing acid. However, parents can control the attack of dental plaque. After children eat snacks, parents should ask their children to brush the teeth or rinse the mouth so as to remove the residual foods from the mouth or the teeth.

Another worriment of parents is that eating snacks can affect the normal dinner. In fact, eating snacks two hours before dinner will not affect the normal dinner of children. It is beneficial to arrange breakfast, lunch, evening meal and the time of eating snacks in the afternoon for children each day. At the same time, the ratio of nutrients should be taken into consideration. When children have dinner, they should chew the foods completely so as to accelerate the secretion of gastric juice and improve the digestion.

Suitable snacks for children to eat mainly include cake, milk, yogurt, fresh fruits, nut, and toast and so on. These foods are easy for children to digest and can also provide essential nutrients for them. For example, apples contain various kinds of nutrients and dietary fibers. Abundant folic acid, the main composition of vitamin B, is also contained in apples. It can effectively prevent the heart disease for children in the future.