Get the kids to help you prepare some healthy snacks. By working in the kitchen together, kids learn heart-healthy habits that will stick with them their whole lives. Talk about what makes some ingredients better for you than others. Discuss ways of cooking your favorite foods (like chicken nuggets) in more heart-healthy ways and experiment by trying out your new ideas. Get started with these healthy snack recipes.
French Toast
Orange Fun Pops
Chocolate Milk Cooler
Download a heart-healthy activity page
Click here to download a menu planning page for you and your kids to fill out. Print it out as often as you like and plan heart-healthy menus together.
Food labels
Kids love mysteries, so here's one to solve together. How do you know if the food you're eating is heart-healthy? Check the Nutrition Facts labels. Get the kids to read these labels on all their favorite foods and answer these questions. What information does a Nutrition Facts label provide? Why is it important to check the serving size on a food label? Which food is the best choice based on calories from fat? Why? Ask your junior sleuths to compare the amounts of cholesterol, sugar, protein, fiber and sodium. By sifting through the food label clues together, you'll learn to choose lower-fat foods most of the time and save the higher-fat treats only for special occasions.
The American Heart Association has created a Food Certification Program to help you and your kids spot healthful choices at the grocery. Products displaying the heart-check meet our food criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol for healthy people over age 2. Want to know more? Click here.
Check out these sites for more information on kids, nutrition and food labels.
Dietary guidelines for healthy children
Cookbooks
Recipe quick find
