After-School Snacks

It's that uncivilized time between late afternoon and dinner when kids go absolutely bananas. They want food NOW. (SHNS photo by Cherie Diez, St. Petersburg Times)

An acquaintance calls it the banana hour.

It's that uncivilized time between late afternoon and dinner when kids go absolutely bananas.

They want food NOW. They are starving NOW. They didn't mean to hit their sister, but her sideways glance provoked them, and why isn't dinner ready?

No, they are not slamming their schoolbooks around and isn't dinner ready yet? WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Every parent who handles after-school duty knows the routine. Whether the kids are picked up at 2, 3 or 5 p.m. or drive themselves home, the initial greeting is the same.

"I'm hungry."

That is the simple reason that asking children, even teenagers, to wait 45 minutes, or more, for dinner is often met with a shriek as grating as teeth on metal. Hungry children are cranky children who are less able to handle stress, disappointment or a sideways glance.

Aside from turning the minivan into a full-service lunch truck or sliding through the drive-through to fuel up on fast fat, there are steps a parent can take to prevent the evening from dissolving into a pity party. Planning, we're sorry to say, is part of the equation. And so are after-school snacks.

The school year is cranking up. As always, school lunches will be in the news. Irradiated beef in the tacos? Should candy and soda machines be allowed in schools? Will little Madison actually eat the ham-and-brie sandwich Mom so lovingly packed? And why does she eat lunch at 10:45 a.m.?

All valid questions, but they are too narrowly focused on the one meal. What about the rest of the day? Since many families don't sit down for dinner, if they sit down at all, until 6:30 p.m. or later, the hours between lunch and the evening meal can be very long.

"Children need to have three meals and at least three snacks a day because they have small stomachs and their portions are smaller," says Angel Wright, a registered dietitian at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. "Even teenagers need to eat that much because they have higher calorie needs. They are still growing."

Sure, kids love sugary, fat-laden junk, but they get plenty of that. Your job is to have fruit, vegetables, dairy products and whole-grain treats to feed them.

Kids who don't eat every two to three hours can become anxious and irritable, Wright says. A dip in blood-sugar levels saps their energy and that's when many parents, and teachers, watch little lambs turn into grizzly bears.

That might be something staff at some St. Petersburg-area high schools will see this year when lunch is moved to the last period of the day for a one-year experiment. Students at those schools will begin the day at 7:05 a.m. with lunch scheduled at 1:05 p.m.

Administrators say snacks will be available, but Wright suggests that students stock lockers or backpacks with granola bars or even sandwiches to see them through.

Karla Stahl of Odessa, Fla. knows what happens when teens get hungry. The stay-at-home mother struggles with guilt when she whips through the drive-through to get something into the bellies of her teenage daughters before their after-school sports activities. Sometimes she packs a cooler of apples and other nutritious food, rarely a welcome sight. The girls attend schools in Tampa, so there's plenty of time to eat during the drive.

"They know it's (fast food) bad for them," Stahl says. But still, they won't eat raisins and celery for snacks.

"It's a very big puzzle to me and very seldom does it all come together satisfactorily," Stahl says about the job of feeding a family. By the time she spends half a day figuring out a week's worth of menus, she's sick of the whole affair, she says.

Maybe these tips will help her, and you, soothe their growling stomachs and assuage guilt:

Think of snacks as mini meals. Instead of forcing typical healthy snacks such as an orange or peanut butter on celery on older kids, offer a half-sandwich, a bowl of soup, baked chicken leg or a slice of leftover pizza. For younger children, cheese and crackers, a yogurt parfait with fresh fruit and granola or even a small bean burrito is enough to boost sagging bodies.

Remember the food groups. Look at snacks as an opportunity to sneak in servings of dairy, protein, fruit and vegetables. (Most kids get their share and more of fat and grains.) Offer snacks from at least two of the food groups, Wright suggests.

Avoid a steady diet of high-fat potato chips and the like. A mango smoothie includes both dairy and fruit; pasta salad can incorporate protein and vegetables.

Be age-appropriate. Elementary-age children are more likely to be satisfied with fruit juice bars, fruit, trail mixes, granola bars, popcorn and fruit roll-ups.

Preteens and teenagers want something substantial and more grown-up, depending on their tastes. Maybe chips and salsa, sushi or leftover pad Thai will suit them. Some teens are happy with a big bowl of cereal.

Boy Scouts aren't the only ones who need to be prepared. An inescapable truism of parenthood is that adults must anticipate the needs of children. Have food in the refrigerator that they like and that can be prepared quickly when hunger strikes.

When you bake chicken, cook extra pieces that can be noshed cold. Leftover macaroni and cheese or lasagna can be zapped by adults and older kids. Stock your larder with cheese sticks, cold cuts, pretzels, milk, yogurt, crackers and muffins. Keep easy-to-eat fruits such as berries, bananas and grapes on hand.

The car as restaurant on wheels. How many times has an adult in your house said, "There will be no eating in the car!" How long has that rule lasted? Busy schedules dictate car eating, whether we like it or not.

Woe is the parent who picks up a child after extended care at 5 p.m. with nothing to eat. The ride home is not pleasant. To buffer the attack, send extra food in the child's lunch or offer food and drink on the ride home, no matter how short. Again, a half-sandwich, a few cookies or even a slice of banana bread will do the trick.

Fluids are friend and foe. Children must drink regularly to keep body functions operating properly. That said, drinking a gallon of soda or sugary juice an hour before dinner fills the belly with mostly empty calories, Wright says.

Limit liquids to a reasonable amount. Include milk as well as sweet juices and sodas, and encourage plain water. Children are better off eating to sate hunger rather than drinking themselves happy.

Get them involved. Let children pick out food at the grocery store, asking that they try something new every week. Encourage them to pack their own lunches, or at least help, and give consideration to something they might want to eat after school.

Train your kids to use the blender safely and leave it out where they can make smoothies of their own creations.

Don't expect something they can't deliver. If a child has last eaten at 2:30 or 3 p.m., she won't be patiently awaiting dinner at 6 p.m. Give her a little something to take the edge off. She needs it and you don't want to be strafed with hollering until dinner at 7 p.m. Choose wisely and she may still have an appetite for the bigger meal.

Feeding children is frustrating business. They can be picky, unreasonable and stubborn. Add to that the independent streak that surfaces with adolescence and it's easy to understand why parents everywhere have given in to fast food.

But feed them we must, at regular intervals and with great care. Or face the nightly banana hour.