Key Facts
- Healthy snacks help maintain your energy levels.
- Eat snacks from a variety of food groups such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, protein, and dairy.
- Limit candy, chips, overly processed foods and treats made from refined grains and added sugar.
- Packing a healthy snack in your backpack may help regulate blood sugar levels and fullness.
Snacks are a great way to keep your energy levels up throughout the day. Eating healthy snacks between meals will help ensure you aren’t going too many hours without fuel. When you are too hungry, you may end up feeling tired, irritable and eating more than you need at the next mealtime.
What snacks should I choose?
A balance of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, protein, and dairy foods can make great snacks. Balanced snacks tend to have a mix of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) and some fiber. Fiber is found in whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and beans. This balance of nutrients helps us stay full. Snack foods such as chips, cookies, and candies are a tasty treat but generally contain very little or no fiber, may leave you less satisfied, and could leave your stomach growling soon after.
When you choose snacks, try to combine a source of fiber with a source of protein. Sometimes we call this a “paired snack” because you are pairing those two nutrients. Check out the suggestions below and pick an item from each list for a delicious snack!
Easy snack ideas – pick one from each category:
Fiber:
- High fiber cereal (more than 5 grams of fiber per serving)
- Whole wheat pita bread
- Apple
- Banana
- Grapes
- High fiber crackers (more than 3 grams of fiber per serving)
- Carrot and celery sticks
- Snap peas and bell peppers
Proteins:
- Nuts
- String cheese
- Hummus
- Peanut butter or other nut or seed butter (such as almond butter or sunflower seed butter)
- Yogurt
- Cottage Cheese
- Milk
- Meat and poultry (turkey, beef jerky)
- Soy nuts
- Seeds such as pepitas or sunflower seeds
Example Snack Ideas:
- Whole wheat pita with peanut butter or turkey
- Yogurt with high fiber cereal
- Carrots or cucumber with hummus
- Cottage cheese or string cheese with fruit
- Sliced cheese and high fiber crackers
- Trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, and whole grain cereal
- Apple slices with nut or seed butter
- Strawberries and chocolate hummus
What are ideas for on-the-go snacks?
Being prepared with quick and convenient snacks can help fuel your body while you’re on the go. If you have healthy snacks packed in your lunch bag, purse or backpack, you’ll always have something nutritious to snack on when you get hungry.
Snacks are an important part of a healthy, balanced meal pattern. Remember to pack your snacks before you head out of the house, or the night before, so you are sure to have healthy options with you wherever you go.
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.