Fish has been known as brain food for decades, if not longer. Now we have the science to prove it. The WHO and FAO jointly recommend that pregnant and nursing mothers eat seafood twice a week to optimise brain and nerve development in the growing fetus and infant.

For toddlers and older kids it’s all about creating healthy habits. Whatever food kids learn to enjoy will be the food they most likely choose once they leave home. Teach your kids to love seafood. Don’t give up at the first screwed up nose. Set an example. Make it a habit. How about making Friday ‘Fish Day’?

When the latest Dietitian’s newsletter arrives it’s like Christmas! I pull open the magazine and out drop a whole lot of brightly coloured advertisements, mini newsletters and information sheets telling me about the nutritional benefits of all sorts of healthy products – yoghurt, grain bread, eggs etc. This week the one that caught my eye was Dairy Australia’s current campaign to Aussie mums. It’s called kids need 3 and it’s a timely reminder to all us mums to make sure we are feeding our kids three serves of dairy a day.

It’s not a new message but I appreciated the reminder. Calcium is critical for children. This is the time they are growing most rapidly and it is their “window of opportunity’ to store up lots of calcium in their bones. Once they hit their twenties and their bone growth is complete, the ‘window of opportunity’ is shut.

My son brought a mini-assignment home last week. It was all about how much sugar is added to various foods. Then it asked the kids to say whether they thought sugar should be added to foods. After reading that a can of soft drink has nine teaspoons of added sugar, I guess their answer will be no. And yet sugar can be really helpful in getting people to eat healthy food. What’s more important to ask than ‘How much sugar’ is ‘What is it added to?’ If it’s added to some water, colour, flavour and carbonated fizz, it’s not that great. If it’s added to milk, yoghurt or rolled oats it’s helping you to eat a whole lot of extra nutrients.

Also last week I received a brochure on snacks through my dietitian connections. Funny thing – their criteria for a healthy snack didn’t mention sugar at all. Rather than vilifying sugar, they rated the nutritional value of snacks based on the following criteria: low kilojoule, low glycemic index, low saturated fat, plenty of protein, plenty of fibre and containing calcium. It’s not necessary to meet all the criteria, in fact none of the snacks listed did, but the more a snack meets the better. What’s great about using this criteria is that it’s positive – looking for the good things about a food rather than avoiding something. It gives you more control over your choices and reduces the guilt of eating something that everyone has told you is ‘bad’.

I’m not saying that eating lots of sugar is a good thing – we all eat more than we need. I just think it’s unhelpful to focus on it when there are so many other aspects of nutrition to consider. So here are some great after-school snacks that meet some or most of the healthy criteria.

Carton of reduced fat yoghurt

A 200 gram carton of most fruit yoghurt contains two or three teaspoons of added sugar. Although natural yoghurt is ideal, the added sugar encourages many more people to eat this high protein, high calcium, low GI snack.

Rice Pudding

If you have left-over cooked rice, add some reduced fat milk and a sprinkle of brown sugar. (Apologies to my lovely Indian sister-in-law who would never ruin rice by serving it as a dessert!)

Roasted chickpeas

I have discovered these amazing snacks since moving to Australia. They are high in protein and fibre, and have a low glycemic index, making them a filling, lasting snack. And they taste good.

Wholegrain crackers spread with hummus or peanut butter.

I like Vita Wheat 9 grains as they are low in saturated fat and salt, and high in fibre. Make sure the peanut butter has no added salt or sugar.

Dates and a glass of reduced fat milk.

This was my standard after school snack as a teenager. Like all dried fruit, dates provide a concentrated source of energy – that means a lot of sugar in a small amount. But for active, growing bodies, this is fine. The milk provides protein, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iodine and some B vitamins.

Fresh fruit – of course

Chop the fruit up; it’s more likely to be eaten. Or blend it into a drink. lately I’ve been making a delicious after school drink of watermelon, banana and frozen berries blended with a little iced water and low fat yoghurt. The colour is fantastic and it hits plenty of good nutriton buttons: high fibre and low fat with protein and calcium from the yoghurt. Try it!!

Childhood Obesity Awareness Month Blog Carnival

This article was written for inclusion in the blog carnival hosted by http://www.littlestomaks.com to promote awareness of childhood obesity as part of the National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. Please read to the end of this article to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

Last week my cousin and his 10 year-old son popped over to say hi. It’s been eight months since I last saw them. My cousin looked pretty much the same but I hardly recognised his son.

“Have you lost weight?” I asked him in the understatement of the year. He grinned and said proudly, “I’ve lost 11 kilograms since Christmas!” Eleven kilos is a lot for anyone to lose but for a ten-year-old kid it’s like almost a quarter of his body weight!

The change was incredible – not just in his external appearance but within himself. He was more relaxed and confident. His dad confirmed it. “Recently we went rock-climbing and he raced to the top faster than anyone else. In the past he has always struggled. Each time he finds he can do something really well that in the past he struggled with, it boosts his confidence even more.”