Kid-Friendly Snacks that Aren’t Full of Sugar

Kids love to eat…when it’s not mealtime. Satisfy your kids sweet tooth with these healthier snacks that won’t spoil their dinner (or keep them up all night).

It’s that time of year- the time to be tempted at every twist and turn with a sweet snack. I have heard from a number of my clients that their kids are snacking pretty much all day. And, I have noticed my kids having less interest in lunch or dinner, while looking desperately in the snack drawer for their next sweet treat.

Aside from banning all sugary snacks in the house, I would rather make sure my kids have access to a variety of snack options- from healthy to sweet to savory to nutritious.

And, if they happen to be too full from their healthy sweet snack to eat their full bucket of Halloween candy, so much the better.

How Sugar Affects Children

In the U.S., the average child eats and drinks more sugars than recommended – on average, about 17% of the total caloric need. More than half of the sugar intake is in the form of sugary drinks. The general recommendation by American Academy of Pediatrics is to limit simple sugars to 25 grams for children 2 and over and to avoid simple sugars for children under 2 years of age.

You have probably read about the dangers of sugar in adults, but how does it affect kids? Research has found that, as a child’s added-sugar intake rises, so does that child’s risk for hypertension, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes, among other conditions.

In addition, Good Parenting Brighter Children, shares the below infographic of other potential negative effects of sugar on kids.

Note: I generally do not share personal opinion blogs. This website shares that the information is derived from nutrition classes, medical journals, scientific publications and books by medical doctors.

I am a big believer in observing what is happening in your own family. While some of the above symptoms could be the result of eating too much sugar, your own children might have very different reactions to overconsumption.

As always, pay attention to how your children act after eating sugar, before getting “scared” of the harmful effects of sugar. I have seen how sensitive one of my own children is- but the other one appears to be less so. As always, I strive for a healthy balance of sweet treats and healthier low sugar snacks. This is important to me both as a mom and holistic coach.

Where Sugar Lurks in Kid Snacks

Unfortunately, most of the highly marketed, heavily branded kid snacks often are loaded with all sorts of sugar. These foods are the ones that typically have coupons for families that are on a budget. They also have food labels with fun characters such as Mickey Mouse, Disney princesses or superheroes.

And, you should be aware that there could be multiple sources of sugar in the same snack. The subsection of “added sugars” is not the only sugar source in your kids snacks. According to the CDC, added sugars include brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose.

Here are some common high sugar culprits in kid snacks, as shared on AAA State of Play (grams of sugar indicated in parentheses):

• Fruit roll ups (7 g)
• Teddy grahams (7 g)
• Go-gurt (8 g)
• Sunny D (9 g)
• Toaster Strudels (9 g)
• Annie’s organic fruit snacks (11 g)
• Go-Go Squeeze (12 g)
• Dole cherry mixed fruit in 100% juice (18 g)
• Nesquik low fat chocolate milk (22 g)
• Gatorade (32 g)

The interesting thing about the most sugary snacks for kids is most involve fruit or fruit juice. Or items that are often labeled as “high protein”, such as yogurt or milk. The other biggest categories of high sugar kid foods are breakfast items such as cereal, Pop-tarts or bars.

Fruity foods

The temptation as a parent to add some sort of fruit to your kid-friendly snacks is strong. After all, fruit snacks and fruit juice don’t go bad, unlike that bowl of apples and bananas that are attracting flies into your house.

And, your kids tend to eat/drink them! There is very little nutritional benefit to any fruit snacks, fruit leather or fruit juice. Even if it’s organic, gluten-free, or non-GMO.

Protein boosted foods

Often, the amount of sugar in these types of snacks exceeds the relatively low protein amount, which means that your kid will still experience the infamous sugar crash after. That means, the food will be metabolized the same as a carb-heavy snack.

Breakfast foods

Kid’s preferred breakfast foods are often high in sugar, especially the Pop-tarts, granola bars, energy bars, or cereal that your kid may tend to reach for.

I have seen some websites recommending that you swap out your kid’s Cocoa Pebbles with a no-sugar-added, high fiber option such as Wheat Chex.

Yeah, my kid won’t eat it, either. In the case of high sugar cereals, set limits that make sense for your family. I have a “no chocolate for breakfast” rule that I only allow a few times a year. I also encourage my kids to eat oatmeal that they sweeten themselves (this ends up being a lower sugar amount than a food manufacturer would add).

When it comes to energy or granola bars, most have chocolate, high fructose corn syrup, and several other sources of both natural and artificial sugars. Most bars that promote some sort of health claim have nuts in them, which are a no-go for most school-age kids’ classrooms.

This fall has been especially challenging from a snack perspective, as social distancing means kids now eat in their classrooms, and it is a tree-nut free environment. Essentially, all kids need allergy-friendly snacks now, which could rule out nut or nut-butter based bars.

Kid-Friendly Snacks your Kid will Love

There are two approaches to take with sweet snacks that are low sugar and still kid-friendly (i.e., the little monsters will still eat them!).

• The first approach is to find a swap that is still sweet but not as sweet.
• The second approach is to make the sweet snack more satisfying by increasing fat, fruit or fiber.

Lower Sugar Sweet Snacks

There are a number of lower sugar sweet snacks you can offer your, whether you purchase them or make them at home.

Purchased snack options could include one of these 9 g or less per serving options: Clif Z bar, Kind bars, Enjoy Life bites or bars (nut-free!), Kashi bars. I was recently sent a package of Peanut Butter Chocolae bars from Grab the Gold, and my kids love them!

Purchased cereals with more fiber and less sweetener could include: Original Cheerios, Quaker Oat or Corn Bran Squares, any unflavored Chex cereals, Rice Krispies, or GrapeNuts.

When it comes to protein foods such as yogurt and milk, stick to unflavored varieties and add your own toppings.

Some of the lower sugar yogurt brands are: Siggis, Fage, Chobani, Wallabys, YQ by Yoplait, Noosa Hilo, and Icelandic Provisions Skyr. Please note that some of these need to be marked as “no sugar added” or “lower sugar” to qualify as lower sugar, and some also include stevia or sucralose.

Milk has naturally occurring sugar from lactose, so adding chocolate, strawberry, vanilla or banana flavoring to the drink is sabotaging the nutritional benefits. It should also be noted that many non-dairy milks, especially the flavored varieties, have added sugars.

Kid-friendly snacks to make at home

Believe it or not, you don’t need to spend all day in the kitchen in order to whip up some lower sugar snacks that your kids will actually eat.

Fruit-based snacks

Kids tend to gravitate towards fruit-based snacks, so make that rotting fruit in the fruit bowl get to work! Or, add some dried fruits, but in smaller quantities.

• Use bananas for blender muffins, 2 minute mug cakes, or oatmeal pancakes.
• Use apples in the form of applesauce or apple butter in muffins, vegan bread, grain-free pancakes, or crackers (nut-free).
• Use dates or maple syrup instead of white or brown sugar, like in this date walnut bread or pumpkin pie energy bites.
• Make your own fruit leather (takes all day to dry) here on MakeZine.
• Or try a fat bomb- like this blueberry cheesecake fat bombs, or fudge fat bombs and add freeze-dried raspberries, cherries or strawberries.

Kid-friendly bars

I love eating bars, and have mastered bars that help with lactation to no-bake bars. Here are a couple of my favorites that my kids also ate.

• Almond butter bars (we used cashew butter)
• Raspberry oat bars
• Lemon coconut protein bars
• Super bars (printable recipe- good way to use those low sugar Grapenuts and applesauce, too)

Lower sugar cereal

If you kid is resistant to subbing their Frosted Flakes, why not try a different sort of cereal that you can adjust the sweetness of? Of course you can make a big batch of oatmeal in the slow cooker or prepare overnight oats if your kids aren’t fussy about warm oatmeal.

• Quinoa chocolate porridge with banana from Everyday Healthy Recipes.
• Coconut millet porridge from Create Kids Club.
• Ginger honey Japanese rice porridge in the rice cooker from Lafujimama.

Have your kids top with their own favorites! Even if they toss some chocolate chips on top, or brown sugar, it is still probably less sugar than a packaged item.

Kid-friendly salty snacks

If you’re like me, you have at least one kiddo who gravitates towards salty snacks. Well, the last thing I want to do (and really, her school has banned this anyway) is give her a big bag of chips to munch on. Let’s look at some kid-friendly salty snack options.

Purchased salty snacks could include: Annie Chung’s seaweed snacks, roasted chickpeas from the Good Bean, nut packets, wasabi peas, brown rice crackers, tortilla chips (we like Donkey Chips), or Hippeas.

You can make pretty much any of these snacks at home, usually in the air fryer or oven.

Homemade salty snacks include: choose your own flavor roasted chickpeas, roasted edamame, air fryer tortilla chips, or brown rice flax crackers.

Don’t be intimidated by making your own crackers at home- while they do take several hours, it can be easily done on a weekend. I highly encourage you to double the batch.

My kids have loved all of the above recipes, and yours will, too!

When it comes to kid-friendly snacks that aren’t packed with sugar, rest assured that there are a variety of both purchased and homemade options that you and your kids will love.

This is not about perfection- some weeks you might buy all packaged snacks, and other weeks you might experiment in the kitchen. Either way, you will have lower sugar and healthier snack options for the whole family to enjoy.

What is your kid’s favorite sweet snack? Have you tried making a homemade version of it?