Top 10 healthy snacks for teenagers

1. No added original nuts 2. Fresh-cut seasonal fruits/no added sugar freeze-dried fruits 3. Original sugar-free yogurt 4. Low-sodium whole grain oatmeal bars (sodium content <100mg/100g) 5. Steamed potato products (original steamed dried sweet potatoes, baked potato wedges etc.) 6. Low-salt seaweed without additional oil and salt 7. Pure soybean milk/soy milk without additions 8. Braised lean meat without additions (braised beef, quail eggs, etc.) 9. Non-fried low-sugar and high-fiber cereal crisps 10. Pure cocoa butter dark chocolate (cocoa content ≥70%).

Many people were confused when they first saw dark chocolate on the list, saying that it was not a sweet "junk food"? Hey, this is actually a stereotype. What we are talking about here is pure cocoa butter black chocolate with a cocoa content of more than 70%. The first place in the ingredient list is cocoa liquid. No white sugar is added or only a very small amount is added. You can eat about 10g at a time, which is as big as a small fingernail. Two pieces can not only replenish antioxidant polyphenols, but also make children in the third grade of junior high school and senior high school sleepy after studying at night until 90 o'clock. Taking a bite is much gentler than drinking functional drinks. It will not make the heart beat faster like drinking coffee, nor will it make you panic and gain weight like drinking milk tea. Of course, many nutritionists do not recommend that children under 12 years old eat black chocolate. After all, it contains a small amount of caffeine and is afraid of affecting sleep. You can adjust this based on your child's situation. There is no need to dig through the list.

Speaking of which, the easiest thing to get into trouble is dried fruits. Don’t close your eyes when you see the word “fruit”. My colleague bought the “children’s freeze-dried strawberries” with fancy packaging for his son who is in elementary school. The third place on the ingredient list is white sugar, maltodextrin and food flavors. Eating one bag is equivalent to showing off three spoons of sugar, and it has nothing to do with health. Choose the one whose ingredient list contains only the fruit itself and no additional additions. Fresh-cut fruits are of course better, but children who live in school cannot buy fresh ones every day. Stock up on these freeze-dried fruits and stuff two packs in your schoolbag for self-study early. It is better than eating dry bread. It also supplements vitamins and makes you feel full.

Oh yes, some parents asked why there is no cod sausage that everyone often buys? Alas, it’s not that cod sausage is bad, it’s that there are too few reliable cod sausages on the market now. Most of them are fish with a lot of starch, salt, and flavors added, and some don’t even have cod. They are made from miscellaneous surimi. The sodium content is ridiculously high. Eating one is equivalent to consuming less than half a bag of salt. If you can find a low-sodium version with only cod meat and a small amount of seasoning in the ingredient list, you can actually replace the braised meat option on the list and adjust it flexibly.

Last week, I was chatting with Dr. Li from the Municipal Maternal and Child Nutrition Department. He said that many children in the third grade of junior high school in the outpatient clinic are either calcium deficient or constipated. In fact, there is no need to buy those nutritional supplements that cost hundreds of yuan. Every day when picking up the children from school, I hand them a small packet of about 15g. The original nuts on the right, plus a small box of room-temperature sugar-free yogurt, add up to just over 100 calories. The dietary fiber, calcium, and high-quality fats are all supplemented. It can also prevent children from being hungry when they go to the canteen to buy 50-cent packets of spicy strips and fried skewers on the way home from school. Oh, yes, don’t give whole nuts to children under 10 years old, as they can easily get stuck in the throat. Grinding them into pieces or buying nut butter to spread on bread will do the same.

Children living in dormitories can stock up on pure soy milk and steamed dried sweet potatoes without any additives. They do not need to be stored in the refrigerator. The ingredient list is clean. Soy milk is water and soybeans, and dried sweet potatoes are steamed and sun-dried sweet potatoes themselves. There is no added sugar or oil. When you are hungry during self-study in the evening, you can eat two dried sweet potatoes and drink a bag of soy milk. It is much healthier than eating instant noodles, and it will not affect your sleep due to bloating after eating. My nephew is in the fifth grade of elementary school. Before every basketball class, he eats two sticks of steamed dried sweet potatoes. It’s better than eating an energy bar that costs more than a dozen yuan, and it doesn’t contain trans fatty acids.

There is also the seaweed that everyone often buys. Don’t believe in the gimmicks of “for infants and young children” and “for children only”. Turn to the ingredient list and look at it. As long as there are additional additions such as vegetable oil, edible salt, maltodextrin, etc., all are passed. Choose the one with only “dried seaweed” as the ingredients. A little salt is allowed at most. Only those with a sodium content of less than 100mg/100g are qualified. It is a small piece and a small piece. Children can chew two pieces during class and add some iodine. It is much better than eating seaweed rolls wrapped in sugar.

Finally, to be honest, this list is not a golden rule. After all, every child’s taste and constitution are different. Some children are lactose intolerant and cannot drink yogurt, so replace it with pure soy milk. Some children are allergic to nuts, then replace the nuts with roasted corn kernels. The core standard is one: the lower the degree of processing, the better, the shorter the ingredient list, the better, and natural ingredients are preferred. It’s okay to have potato chips or milk tea once or twice now and then. There’s no need to overdo it. After all, eating snacks is all about having fun. As long as you choose healthy ones most of the time, it’s enough.