← The Pediatrician Next Door - Simple Advice on Parenting and Family Health
The Pediatrician Next Door - Simple Advice on Parenting and Family Health
Ep. 136: Will Snacks Ruin Dinner? And Other Nutrition Controversies
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- [00:04]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
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- [00:36]
Sarah Schlichter
Financially savvy Smart move. Another smart move having State Farm help.
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Dr. Wendy Hunter
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Sarah Schlichter
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Dr. Wendy Hunter
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Sarah Schlichter
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Dr. Wendy Hunter
Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer, availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligible vary by State. I am Dr. Wendy Hunter and I spend a lot of time talking with parents about food. It's a big part of parenting. As a pediatrician, I read the research. I know the guidelines. I know the ideal is fresh whole foods family meals, no juice, no soda and no fun, right? I spend a lot of time talking to parents about things like avoiding ultra processed snacks and and teaching kids to like veggies, not just to tolerate them when we hide them in their food. And yes, I'll admit it, I can definitely get up on my high horse. Some of you have seen me do it in person. But the truth is, feeding kids is not simple. Parents are navigating long work days. I know I am. Picky eaters, rising grocery costs and a lot of opinions, especially online and on social media. What's the right way to start solids? Is it okay if you hide spinach in your kids brownies? Where do we stand on chocolate milk in lunch and wait, are eggs a protein packed breakfast or are they a high cholesterol nightmare? In this episode, I'm going to dig into these very questions with registered dietitian Sarah Schlichter. She's a mother and a fellow host of her own podcast. We're unpacking the food controversies that swirl around parenting and nutrition and giving you real research, informed answers that cut through all the noise. Because sometimes when you do what's best for your child, that means doing what works for your family. I'm Dr. Wendy Hunter and I'm the pediatrician next door. I'm that doctor friend you call for practical advice about your kid's health. I mix the science of medicine with the reality of parenting. My guest today is registered dietitian Sarah Sarah Schlichter. She is host of the podcast Managing mealtime Madness and creator of the blog Bucket list Tummy. Sarah is a mother of three and she brings a warm real world perspective to all things nutrition, especially the challenging and messy parts. So naturally, the first controversy that came to my mind that I wanted to talk to her about was the age old tactic of sneaking vegetables into your kids food. I mean, we've all done it, right? It's basically the food version of hiding a fever medication in apple juice and you think your child's gonna drink it until they spit it out and then refuse to drink juice ever again. I mean, I get it, you're trying to help them, but I worry that if we are too sneaky, we risk losing our kids trust. I mean, it's one thing to hide a pill in a hot dog for your own puppy. They're never gonna figure that out. But a toddler, an older kid, they know. They always know. So I asked Sarah how she handles this. She actually has a recipe on her website for hidden veggie Mac and cheese. And I wanted to know, where's the line? How do you balance honesty with getting some spinach into your kid's body without the dinner table turning into a crime scene? Here's what she had to say.
- [04:14]
Sarah Schlichter
So the way I approach this is when your kids are younger babies, early toddlers, they may not know as much about foods. Usually more willing to try things I find around, at least in my experience. It's like the 18 months to 2 year mark is when kids start to become more selective and enter that normal developmental picky phase, quote, unquote. But before that, if you're just serving things on the side, they may not ask questions. They might say, what's that green thing in there? If there's like kale or spinach, you know, you could say that's something that mommy has in her salad sometimes. We threw it in our pasta tonight. But I do find as kids get older, I like to steer away from hiding things and I'm more transparent about it. So for example, my 5 and 7 year old know that when we're making smoothies, I'll add spinach to it and oh, I don't taste the spinach or I like spinach, mom has it in her smoothie sometimes because I don't want them to think that it's quote unquote a bad food or something they don't like. It's more bringing attention to the fact that we have this in Here, if you want to try it without it, we can have the pasta without the spinach or peppers in it. But if you want to try it with it, here's an option and maybe we'll talk about. We've had peppers in this recipe before and in tacos or fajitas and you like them raw with hummus. So I think just kind of doing this again builds that trust because we want kids to have that curiosity and we don't need to necessarily hide vegetables for them. Then they're going to think they're kind of a negative thing. So we want to be upfront and we want to just encourage that curiosity around food.
- [06:00]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Okay. So you've made it through the meal and you think you're in the clear. And then comes the real test. It's snacks. I just listened to an episode of Sarah's podcast where she brought on her own school age daughter to get the inside scoop on snacks. It was refreshing to hear a kid's take on what works and and what doesn't. Let's be honest, summer can be really challenging when it comes to snacking. Everything is unstructured, everyone's home more and the kitchen turns into a 24 hour buffet. So I asked Sarah how does she manage snacks during long summer days and what parents can do to keep things realistic and nutritious. What about snacks? So those can be very controversial. Like some dietitians are like no snacks. Like it just ruins your meal. But then kids are hungry all the time. So what is your advice about snacks and what are your ideas for great snacks?
- [06:55]
Sarah Schlichter
I'm smiling over here because I actually just recorded an episode Yesterday with my 7 year old about snacking in the summer because I thought it would be fun to get her point of view on the difference in summer routine versus school.
- [07:08]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Please share the insider knowledge with us from a seven year old.
- [07:11]
Sarah Schlichter
Yes. So she kind of went through her day. I think during the school year maybe things are a little bit more routine and rhythmic for all of us because we kids are in school. They kind of have a set time that they eat lunch and breakfast and whatnot. So maybe the snack routine is kind of more normal here. In the summer months. I find that many people struggle a little bit more whether their kids are home or not. They're kind of like raiding the snack pantry all day every day. I want another snack. I mean, my 2 year old is obsessed with snacks. So here's where I stand on snacks. I think snacks can be a great way to fill nutrition gaps. Now that's Encouraging nutrient dense snacks. But I also think snacks can be fun. I mean, kids, their bodies are still so small and as you know, they're growing and sometimes they're not getting everything they can at just three meals a day, especially if, you know, they're lighter eaters or they're more active kids. So I do appreciate snacks for that purpose. So I like to think of them as a way to add in nutrition. So and if we're doing it in a purposeful way, you know, we can, we don't want to offer a heavy snack 30 minutes before a meal. We want to obviously prioritize the meals first. But snacks can kind of fill the gaps. And if we're talking about on the way to practice, if we're talking about convenience, they have another purpose there because we're not always able to make everything from scratch. So I think kind of having some healthy snack options that whether you buy from the grocery store or even you meal prep in advance can be really helpful.
- [08:48]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
So sometimes snacks are a huge part of a kid's diet. And during summer, when structure goes out the window, it can feel like snack requests are constant. But not all snacks are bad and not all kids need them. So how do you know when a snack is helpful and when it's just a habit? A good rule of thumb is that toddlers and preschoolers typically need to eat every two or three hours. Their bellies are small, their activity levels are high, and they burn through energy quickly. So for school aged kids, they can go longer, like three to four hours between meals or snacks if those meals are balanced with enough protein, fat and fiber so they stay full. But this is where things get tricky. Kids often say they're hungry when they're actually bored, tired, overstimulated, or just because they're standing in the kitchen. So one tip you can try is using a snack basket. You fill it in the morning with a day's snacks and you can let your kids help choose which snacks they put in there and then that's it. They can grab from the basket all day long, but when it's empty, it's empty. That teaches them appetite, awareness and independence at the same time. And it also teaches them not to eat eight snack bags of Cool Ranch Doritos in one day. If your child is constantly asking for snacks though, try doing a quick self check. Ask yourself, did they have a big meal recently? Are they hungry? Are they thirsty? Are they sitting down to eat? Or are they wandering around with food in their hand? Okay, let's talk about what to offer. If you are bored of apple slices and cheese sticks, here are some options you can try. I like roasted chickpea or dried edamame. You can even buy those packaged. You can make mini quesadillas with mashed beans inside or frozen banana slices dipped in yogurt. How about homemade trail mix with like cereal and some chocolate chips and maybe some sunflower seeds. You can also try hard boiled eggs and then put everything bagel seasoning on it. Yum. Right? What about leftover pancakes from breakfast? And you put nut butter on them and roll them up like a wrap. They'll never even know it's leftovers. Okay, packaged snacks, I know those are inevitable, so here are my tips. Look for ones that have at least 2 grams of fiber and 2 or 3 grams of protein. You want something that's going to stick with your kids, not just spike their blood sugar and leave them hangry 20 minutes later. The snack food gets bonus points if on the label you can pronounce all the ingredients. That's a really good way to identify a more healthful packaged food choice. Okay, now that we have covered snacks, let's move to the next challenge that I hear all the time, and that is feeding babies. This is one of the most common questions I get from parents. It's how to start solids and how to make the leap from purees to real food. Because somewhere between the first spoonfuls of goo and a toddler flinging spaghetti off their high chair, a lot of parents kind of freak out. So let's get into that. People always ask me how they can transition from purees to chunkier foods, and my dumb advice is just to give them chunkier foods and see what happens. But you have shared some great baby and toddler recipes. Like, I know you have cherry puree and cheesy carrot bites. How can parents make this leap from purees to solids? With advice better than mine?
- [12:29]
Sarah Schlichter
Yes. So I remember with my first daughter, I was very nervous about doing the solids because, you know, once you learn about choking and you're terrified of that, even you were. Ah, even I was. The third time around, I was much more confident. Because you learned that babies are very capable. But not to say we never did purees, because I do think they can be great. You can mix a lot in them if you're doing them yourself and they can provide different flavors for baby. But how? I guide parents to kind of move from force. Not force feeding, but if they're spoon feeding the baby first, give the baby the spoon and let them Feed themselves. So that's kind of the first step because again, we want to establish those intuitive eating habits at a young age. We want to establish that curiosity. And usually when we're starting solids around that four to six months, babies are showing an interest. They're bringing things to their mouth, they're watching you eat. So if you give them a spoon, they'll bring it to their mouth. They might miss it, might be messy, but at least they're learning that. So start with that. Let them feed the purees themselves. Then kind of to your point, you just gotta try it with the chunky foods. I mean, then you can start with something soft like meatballs. Those are things we do. Those are one of the first foods I always offer my kids because iron is important. After that six month mark, if you're breastfeeding, your iron stores are down. So we really want to prioritize that in the diet. And they're soft. So if you're making some meatballs, just let them hold it, let them try to bite into it. They're not going to eat the whole meatball. I mean, I guess maybe some babies could, but in the beginning they're probably not going to eat much at all. It's more just about the experience. And I think as parents sometimes we can make faces and, and maybe cause more harm than good when we are sitting there watching our baby explore food for the first time. So sometimes it's helpful to just sit on your hands and then just watch the baby because they are very capable and oftentimes we are getting in the way of that by our facial expressions or just not even letting them have the opportunity.
- [14:37]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Yeah, true. I love meatballs. I love that idea because you can make them out of anything. I mean, you can do ground turkey. I do plain plant based everything in my house. And that's very easy to do with meatballs too. Has so much nutrition, so many variety of textures and flavors inside there too. Okay, ready for your next question?
- [14:56]
Sarah Schlichter
Ready.
- [14:56]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
This is one of my favorites. I also have a strong opinion about this, so we'll see if our opinions are the same. Should kids be allowed to drink chocolate milk?
- [15:06]
Sarah Schlichter
Oh yes, chocolate milk. How can kids not like chocolate milk? I mean, I think when you're. It's chocolate.
- [15:14]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
I love chocolate milk.
- [15:15]
Sarah Schlichter
I love chocolate milk too. And honestly, I really got into promoting chocolate milk when I was working with athletes because it really is that balance of protein and carbohydrates that you need after a workout. There's serious research that's been done. If you go to PubMed or you're looking, you'll find research studies about chocolate milk. But for kids, it can also just be a way to get extra nutrition in. Now, of course, the chocolate syrup is going to have sugar in it, but that's something. It's almost like balancing the pros and the cons. And it's never that you never want to offer your kids sugar, but just kind of if you're taking a tap on what your kids are eating throughout the day. You know, maybe if they're at a birthday party eating cake or cupcakes, maybe that's not the day you offer chocolate milk. But if they're at dinner and their appetite's a little low and you're worried they're going to be hungry before bed, or maybe they are low in calcium or vitamin D. I mean, milk. Chocolate milk can be a great vehicle to get those nutrients in. So I would say I'm a fan of chocolate milk, but I think parents can obviously oversee that because as the parent, as we talked about with the division of responsibility, you decide what is offered. So it can be something that you offer strategically or in and around activity is another reason we use that a lot.
- [16:39]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
I agree with you 100%. That is the same way I feel about chocolate milk. I appreciate that Sarah brought up the concept of division of responsibility because that's a foundational concept in feeding kids at any age. We talked about that back in episode 126 when she joined me to break down how to get kids to the table without total chaos. If you haven't heard that episode yet, that one's packed with helpful strategies. Okay, we're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we're shifting gears away and we're going to talk about feeding older kids and athletes. Upgrade your laundry routine with a durable and reliable Maytag laundry pair at Lowes. Like the new Maytag washer and dryer with performance enhanced stain fighting power designed to cut through serious dirt and grass grime. And what's great is this laundry pair is in stock and ready for delivery when you need it the most. Don't miss out. Shop Maytag in store or online today at Lowe's. It's okay not to be perfect with finances. Experian is your big financial friend and here to help. Did you know you can get matched with credit cards on the app? Some cards are labeled no Ding decline, which means if you're not approved, they won't hurt your credit scores. Download the Experian app for free today. Applying for no Ding decline cards won't hurt your credit scores. If you aren't initially approved, initial approval will result in a hard inquiry, which may impact your credit scores. Experian Imagine fast hydration combined with balanced energy. Perfectly flavored with zero artificial sweeteners. Introducing Liquid Ivy's new Energy Multiplier, Sugar Free.
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Sarah Schlichter
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Dr. Wendy Hunter
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- [18:49]
Sarah Schlichter
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- [18:58]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Before the break, we talked about starting solids and building trust around food for babies and toddlers. But as kids grow, so do the questions. And one of the biggest ones I get is about nutrition for student athletes. Sarah Schlichter has extensive experience in this space, not just as a registered dietitian, but as a runner and an athlete herself. So I picked the conversation back up by asking her what should parents know about fueling kids who are active in sports, especially as athletics seems to get more intense, more competitive and frankly more demanding at younger ages?
- [19:38]
Sarah Schlichter
Depending on the intensity and duration of their workout and how old they are, I mean they are going to need more food. And that is something that if you are doing meal prep and you're in a routine, having some extra snacks or even mini meals on hand for them can be helpful. But even just having store bought options and it depends on kind of the age, but once they get into school age high school, sometimes they may be eating lunch at like 10am or 11am I've had a lot of clients that have that early lunch and then maybe they're practicing at 4pm Four to five hours is a very long time to not have a meal. So in those situations we would have you know, a post lunch snack or a pre workout snack or even a second mini lunch. It's kind of a case by case basis determining nutrient timing. It's this world of its own. But yes, it makes sense that athletes are always hungry and I think you really have to prioritize the fueling before and after the workout and always encourage the three meals a day and they will need snacks and making sure those snacks aren't just, you know, fruitless calories, making sure they are carbohydrates to fuel and recover and protein to help recover those muscles.
- [20:55]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Sarah mentioned how important it is for parents to think about when their child eats lunch at school because that timing can really affect energy Levels later in the day. Some kids get assigned lunch as early as 10:30 in the morning. And if they've got practice or a game after school at 4 or 5pm, that's a huge gap. Without food, no wonder they're crashing or cranky. So if your child has a long stretch between lunch and their after school activity, it is a really important idea to build in a quick balanced snack. Something like a banana with peanut butter trail mix or cheese stick with whole grain crackers. And then after practice you want something that helps with recovery. Something like carbs to replenish and lots of fluid. Fruit is actually quite a good option for after sports. One of Sarah's favorite ways to cover all of those bases though is smoothies. And not just the fruit and yogurt kind. She has some really creative combinations that pack in nutrition and taste good at the same time. So here's what she explained to me.
- [21:57]
Sarah Schlichter
Smoothies are a big one. Especially in the heat or after a hard workout, a lot of athletes lose their appetite. So kind of drinking in that nutrition can be helpful and hydrating at the same time. So smoothies is great. Eggs. Eggs are actually a really great post workout because they have that leucine which is helping rebuild the muscle in that anabolic state after that workout. So if you're eating proteins high in leucine which will animal proteins, dairy, eggs and soy, you really want to focus then. So eggs in an omelet or with toast or really just any balanced meal. But in terms of snacks, there's lots of protein bars on the market for kids. I would more. So try to stick to real food. String cheese jerky. We do yogurt a lot like yogurt with cereal or yogurt with granola. You can buy single serving, even yogurt pouches if you're on the go. So there are several options for convenience. And I don't know, I don't know if you're seeing this, Wendy, but it feels like protein is like a hit everywhere. There's protein chips now there's protein being infused into everything. So I think your options aren't as limited as they were before.
- [23:14]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
So we've covered fueling kids for activity, but what about just making everyday eating a little more fun? Because I know one of the biggest battles for you is getting kids interested in the food that's right in front of them. And I'll tell you what, kids love to have choices. You know this. So one way that Sarah encourages more engaged and independent eating is by setting up a mini buffet. And I swear this is easy. I'm not talking about fancy platters or Pinterest worthy spreads. She uses a muffin tin. Yeah, a regular old muffin tin that you already have. She turns it into a snack board full of little bites. She calls them muffin tin snack boards. Pretty straightforward. And if you haven't tried one yet, you're going to want to after you hear her ideas. Plus, she's about to share a few more tips for quick, nutritious family meals and gives us a hint about her favorite super ingredient. I don't want to spoil it, but let's just say it's orange, it's sweet, and it plays well with cinnamon. Here's more.
- [24:15]
Sarah Schlichter
Something like this is really fun because if you're serving it in a muffin tin, think you have 12 different little holes. We might put like carrot sticks in one and hummus, maybe some ranch, maybe some pistachios or chocolate almonds, maybe some strawberries, maybe some string cheese. So we're covering all the bases, but it just looks fun and cute and it can totally be an easy weeknight meal. So that's something that we do a lot. There's a recipe that's really popular that I just call Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers, but you could do it with ground chicken or ground beef, too. So you basically microwave a sweet potato. It takes six or seven minutes tops. And then you just take that flesh out. And the reason I use sweet potatoes so much in my recipes is because it's naturally sweet but no added sugars. And it's such a great source of nutrition for kids. We're talking fiber, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C. So we add it to so many things. But that sweet potato puree will just mash in with your ground turkey or your ground chicken or your ground beef and you can form them into meatballs or just burger patties and then you just pan sear them and that's ready in like 15 minutes tops. And serve it with a bun or over a salad or in a wrap and or meatballs over rice or something like that. And that's a really easy meal, too.
- [25:38]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
I want to get back to your recipes because I was obsessed with your website because they are all 20 to 30 minute recipes that are really easy but also really good. Which of your quick meals are the best for busy weeknights? What are your most popular ones and why do they work?
- [25:55]
Sarah Schlichter
Well, yeah, so we. So I'll talk about things that we like in our family, but again, a lot of these can be modified for other Families, you know, if they're plant based or have different proteins on hand. But one that is really popular with my kids, it's. I call it pizza beans. And I do have a recipe for it on the blog, but it's more just a concept of taking like white beans either again, we're going back to those canned foods, right? Like those quick meal starters, those white northern beans. Or you could even use chickpeas. And you're just kind of heating them up in a stovetop. On the stove. And you can add some canned tomatoes, some garlic, some Italian seasoning. Sometimes we use pizza seasoning, some tomato sauce if you want to. You could even add other proteins if you wanted to. And then we just kind of take that and it has like the flavors and the aroma of pizza. And we'll serve it with like a nice thick piece of sourdough bread or ciabatta or just something like that. And we are getting veggies in there, we're getting fiber, we're getting protein, but it's kind of a fun thing. So that's like a 10 minute meal. So that's one of those. I didn't prep or plan anything for today. Let's do this.
- [27:03]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Yeah, well, any build your own food is like very popular with kids.
- [27:08]
Sarah Schlichter
Agreed. Agreed. So even if you make your own.
- [27:11]
Dr. Wendy Hunter
Pizza, taco food and feeding kids brings up a lot of strong opinions, from first bites of purees to fueling teen athletes, to the big question of whether hiding spinach in Mac and cheese is genius or deceptive, it can feel to all of us like there's a right way and a wrong way and about 50 people are ready to tell you which one you're doing. But today's conversation reminded me that feeding kids is more than just following rules. It's about building some trust, making food fun, and remembering that nutrition doesn't have to be perfect to be powerful. I want to give a huge thanks to Sarah Schlichter for joining me again. You can find her at Bucket listummy and listen to her podcast, Managing Mealtime Madness. Wherever you get your podcasts, if you enjoyed this episode or if it gave you something to think about the next time your child demands a third snack before dinner, please. I get it. Leave me a comment in the reviews on Apple podcasts or share the show with a friend. It really helps more parents find this show. And I also love hearing what's resonating with you. Thanks for listening. And remember, whether you're serving hidden veggie muffins or just trying to keep your toddler from licking your grocery cart. You are doing great. For more from the pediatrician next door, find me on the web@ pediatriciannextdoorpodcast.com if you've got a question about the weird things kids do, send an email to helloediatriciannextdoorpodcast.com for a chance to hear your voice on the show. I'm Dr. Wendy Hunter. And I'm the pediatrician next door. This show is produced by Red Rock Music. Make sure to subscribe and leave a review wherever it is you're listening. I'll be back next time with more.