HEALTH
Hacks for after-school snacks that promote good eating habits
Mark A. Mahoney
Guest columnist
Aug. 18, 2026, 5:04 a.m. ET
As we head-back into the school year, the importance of providing kid-friendly (and healthy) snacks becomes even more important
Childhood obesity is a major public health issue in the United States, affecting millions of children and adolescents
According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), 21.1% of U.S. children and adolescents ages 2-19 have obesity as of August 2021-August 2023, representing a substantial increase from previous years and affecting millions of American families
Snacking
Psychologist Dr. Kelly Brownell says when he was a boy in the 1950s, it was a different world. On-the-go nibbling wasn’t a thing, and “nobody ate in their automobile.” he says. Kids ate three meals in a day and maybe a snack, which would be enjoyed at home
Today, children eat about three snacks a day. They eat nearly everywhere they go, and ingest lots of ultra-processed foods. The recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatricians is three meals plus two snacks
But even that may be too much, as NPR contributor Michaeleen Doucleff reports. That’s because advice on child nutrition comes from studies done using fruits, veggies and whole foods, says Tamara Hannon, a pediatrician at the Indiana University School of Medicine
Brownell and colleagues published a study showing that the food industry intentionally shifted the social norms around families’ eating habits over the course of the 20th century
First, vending machines sprouted up in schools and public places, and ultra-processed snacks became available at gas stations, train stations and airports. Then food companies added preservatives and designed packaging that makes it easy to carry around snacks without needing refrigeration
As you probably can guess, the high concentrations of sugar, fat and salt in these snacks aren’t great for kids’ health. But it’s not too late to reset your child’s snacking habits, researchers say. (I know, easier said than done.) Here are some expert tips on how to do it
Cut out snacks with high ‘total carbohydrate’ on the label
Ultra-processed foods don’t have to be packed with added sugar to be bad for kids’ health. Cut out salty snacks like pretzels, crackers and even dried pea snacks, especially if they have a high value in the “total carbohydrate” column on the nutrition label, advises Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and contributor to the new study. (As a general rule, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers a 20% daily value or more of a nutrient to be high.)
The refined starches often found in these foods act similarly to sugar in the body, triggering a blood pressure spike and setting kids up to be “in this kind of craving and crashing cycle, as sugary foods do,” she says. Plus, the high levels of sodium in many of these foods have been shown to make eaters crave more
Don’t go ‘cold turkey’
Big food companies have engineered ultra-processed snacks to coax kids into eating even when they’re not truly hungry, Duke’s Kelly Brownell has found. “With these foods, their brains and guts don’t behave as they should,” he says. “Cues created by the food industry start to drive their eating instead of a biological need for food.”
Rather than going “cold turkey” on processed snacks, parents can gradually decrease the amount of processed snacks and add in more whole foods as a replacement, Brownell says. “So give them 75% of the processed snack and 25% slices of fruit at first,” he explains. Eventually, you can remove the processed stuff altogether. If you offer a whole food and your kid refuses, they’re not physiologically hungry he says – even if they insist they are
Focus on quality and portion size
In a recent study, the number of daily snacks didn’t correlate with a child’s risk for obesity or their diet quality, says Jennifer Orlet Fisher, a behavioral nutritionist at Temple University. But it did matter what the kids ate
Fisher recommends sticking to whole and minimally processed foods for snacks, like produce, nuts, beans and dairy. That improves a child’s diet by increasing intake of vitamins and fibers
Keep the portion size small, adds pediatrician Tamara Hannon. “Snacks are really a piece of fruit or a vegetable, maybe with some cheese, or a banana with some nuts,” she says. “They are a very small amount of food.”
Thanks to National Public Radio for the information on healthy snacks. Check out the rether relevant educational information
Additional information resources
Check out the reeglobalstatistics.com
Information on health snacks for kids and teens can be found at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) website at heart.org
Check out these kid-friendly snack recipes at The Real Dietitan’s website at therealfooddietitians.com
Check out the re
Mark A. Mahoney, Ph.D., R.D.N., has been a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist for over 40 years completed graduate studies in Nutrition & Public Health at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in International/Intercultural Development Education at Florida State University. He can be reached at marqos69@hotmail.com
