Fresh fruit snacks for children

Fruit is an essential part of the diet and is a quick and easy snack for adults and children alike.
Try for 1 serve of fruit a day for younger children and 2 serves per day for school-age children.

5 reasons to choose fresh fruit.

1. Lower levels of sugar
   Fresh fruit contains less sugar than packaged and processed fruit products such as concentrates, straps and purees. Although packaged and processed fruit products contain naturally occurring sugars, these levels are considerably higher than the levels found in the fruit in their original forms and these products can also include added sugars. Very high levels of sugar, such as in packaged and processed fruit products, have been associated with dental decay in children.
2. Additional nutrients
   Fresh fruit contains many other important nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and fibre which are usually lost in the production of packaged and processed fruit products.
3. Taste buds
   Children’s taste buds can become accustomed to extremely sweet foods and trained to accept and seek these options. This may cause children to reject natural, less sweet foods.
4. Speech and chewing
   The chewing movements involved in eating fresh fruit contributes to the development of jaw and facial muscles for young children that allows them to speak clearly and safely eat a variety of textures.
5. Easy snack choice
   Fresh fruit is the quick, no fuss option. Mother nature has packaged fruit already as a handy snack!

Fruit doesn’t have to be boring – Try some of the easy recipe ideas from our recipe section

 Fruit kebabs anyone? Watermelon pops? Berrylicious smoothies?