Spring Break: Healthy Snacking

This time of year is perfect for motivating kids to eat right and get moving. But how can parents help create healthy habits?

With childhood obesity on the rise, one strategy is getting the required daily servings of fruit and vegetables. Children and teens who eat fruit and vegetables five or more times a day are much less likely to be overweight or obese than those who eat them less often.

A food that’s great from growing and adult bodies alike is mushrooms. Here are three reasons why:

  1. Essential nutrients. Growing kids need a variety of foods to get all the essential nutrients. Fresh mushrooms are a good source of riboflavin, copper, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, niacin and pantothenic acid. They also contribute to daily intakes of folate, thiamin, vitamin B6, iron, magnesium and zinc.


  1. Adding antioxidants.Fresh mushrooms contain significant levels of l-ergothioneine, which acts as an antioxidant in both cooked and raw mushrooms. Beta-glucans, a type of carbohydrate found in mushrooms, has potential anti-inflammatory activity that may help protect the body against disease.


  1. Fill up on fruits and vegetables. Fresh mushrooms have high water content, are low in fat, and contain some fibre, making them a great choice for keeping hungry kids full without a lot of extra calories. Snacking on a variety of raw veggies, including mushrooms, with a dip means kids get a full serving of this food guide requirement. They’ll also be more likely to resist temptation from less nutritious processed snack foods.


Find more information and delicious recipe ideas at www.mushrooms.ca.


Courtesy of: www.newscanada.com