• Young children have small appetites and need small, frequent meals to ensure they get all the nutrients needed for healthy growth and development.
• Snack foods now account for nearly ¼ of total energy intake among 12 to 19 year olds.
• Snacks should not be extras nibbled here and there; rather, moms should pre-plan nutrient-dense snacks and build them into an overall daily meal plan.
• Use snacks as an opportunity to sneak more important nutrients into little bodies. Any time you have kids at the table — including snack time — you can seize the opportunity to improve their nutrition.
• Kellogg's snacks are fortified with nutrients to help you eat a healthy diet, even when you're on-the-go. They make great after-school snacks and can easily be added to lunches for all ages.

• Children are most likely to eat what is readily available, so be sure to keep a variety of tasty, nutritious snacks visible for kids. For example, if you ask children if they want carrots and dip for a snack, they're likely to say no. But if it's on the counter for them when they get home from school, they'll probably dig in. Healthy snacks need to be available and visible. Out of sight, out of mind.
• Consider making your family a "help yourself shelf" in your pantry (or refrigerator). Simply fill a shelf (or produce bin in your refrigerator) with "green light" snacks. String cheese, fresh fruit, yogurt cups, granola bars and boxes of raisins are good examples.
• Designate specific snack times for your children, so they have limits; then let them exercise some independence by choosing from the "help yourself shelf." This may not only increase the nutrients your family consumes, it may also reduce the frequency of food battles when you have some rules and a schedule in place.
• Made with real fruit and whole oats, Nutri-Grain Bars make a great addition to your family's "help yourself shelf."

• Snacks can be perfectly healthy for kids. What's not healthy is snacking so much that they're never hungry at meal times. Snacks should be kept small and simple to decrease the chance that snack time will interfere with meal time.
• Purchase snack foods in individually wrapped portions — or do it yourself when you bring home your groceries. For example, buy a large bag of crackers and have your kids portion them out into small sandwich bags.
• Help children police their portions. Measure the correct portion for young children. Try giving older children the tools and direction they need. For example, label measuring cups with "crackers, fruit," etc., so that older kids can use these tools to measure their own snacks.
• Nutri-Grain Bars make perfectly portable snacks!

• Snacks should come primarily from the five main food groups in MyPyramid. Choose a variety of foods from within each food group. For example, if you only ate apples from the fruit group, you'd miss out on all the nutrition that peaches, bananas, strawberries and blueberries provide.
• Nutri-Grain Bars are a quick, nutritious, anytime snack you can feel good about. They're low in fat and an excellent source of calcium — each bar contains 20% of the Recommended Daily Value for calcium. Plus, they're a good source of 9 essential vitamins and minerals. They'll give you the right kind of energy to get through your day, so you're good to go!

Learn more about nutrition — including tips for quick and healthy snacks — at www.kelloggsnutrition.com.