In addition to a nutritious packed lunch, a child spending the whole day at school may need a snack to hold over until the next meal at home. We’re not surprised then if some Teuko families have already been sharing snack ideas they like with our lunchbox community on Teuko.com. We found out that there is an average of 4 food items per snack. What are the winning food categories among all these ideas? What about the foods preferred by the children? Discover with us the trends and the snack ideas for kids available for you on Teuko.com.
And the winning Food Categories are… (*Drumroll*)
This diagram speaks for itself. It shows, indeed, that among this sample of +130 snack ideas for kids, together, fruits, grains, and dairy products represent 75% of the food items packed by the Teuko Families for their kids’ snacks. If we add the Vegetables, we reach 87%!
… Fruits for the Sweetness and Vitamins
A little bit more than a third of the total food items included in the children’s snacks (36.4% actually) are fruits. The most beloved fruits are apples, grapes, and blueberries (with almost 40% in the fruits category), followed tightly by strawberries, clementines, and bananas (+25% in the fruits category for these three fruits). Summer fruits like watermelon, cherries, cantaloupe were among the top 10 but less present. Exotic fruits such as physalis and dragon fruit brought a little something special but were clearly in minority in the fruits category.
… Grains for the Crunchiness and the Fuel
The second food group the most packed in a kid’s snack box: Grains.
Bread is the very first food item in this category, with one quarter of the total of the snack boxes using this ingredient for making a sandwich, combined with cream cheese for instance.
In second place, we found granola bars. As a no-prep, easy-to-place-in-the-lunch-bag food item, and marketed as healthy, no wonder that moms and dads like to add granola bars in their kids’ snack menus! Then we find popcorn. Most of the time considered as a treat, it may be an actually very healthy snack – just pay attention there is not too much salt, sugar, or caramel added to it!
… and Dairy for Staying Strong
Almost half of the snack boxes containing dairy products had yogurt: with fruity flavors, with honey, or plain with fruits, it seems it’s a hit! Then, guess what dairy products would be in second and third place, considering that grains, such as bread, is often packed in a kids’ snack? Cheese! More particularly cream cheese and cheddar cheese! Milk has been packed too, but, see, surprisingly, it’s not the most beloved dairy product. What do you think, will milk make a comeback later?
Wait! What about the other food groups?
Sometimes seen in the snack boxes, proteins and veggies remain actually largely associated with the lunch. Teuko Families who place veggies in their kids’ snack boxes like adding cucumbers, surely for the freshness and the crunchiness this veggie adds to the snack. Other crunchy veggies such as carrots and bell peppers are a hit. Then, other beloved veggies are tomatoes, snap peas, avocado, and salad. Find out about all the creative ways to introduce a vegetable in your kid’s lunchboxes in this article.
Vegetal proteins take the first places with hummus and peanut butter. Then some families preferred to pack ham, salami, or beef sausages. Hard boiled on the side, or scrambled in a sandwich, eggs are the last foods in the proteins category that are packed in our kids’ snack boxes.
Last but not least, what drink is provided to children for snack time?
Most of the time families don’t tag the drink their kids have for snack time or lunch time. When we interviewed parents and asked them about it, the common answer we received is that, as simply as this, their kids have a water bottle filled with water! And while looking at the sample of snack boxes for sharing with you these exclusive insights, we confirm that 95% of the time kids may drink water! The other drinks provided for snack time are juices, such as apple juices or berry juice.
Healthy Snacks One Box at a Time
It seems that, for the majority of the Teuko Families, the perfect combo for their kids’ snack is the association of a fruit, some grains, and a dairy product. Also, we noticed that, among this sample of snack boxes, only 2.1% of the food items were considered as Sugar, with a few candies, marshmallow, and chocolate spread… which is very little! With almost half of the kids’ snack boxes containing fruits and veggies, it shows how health-conscious the Teuko Families are and we applaud them for sharing with us, one snack box at a time, these very healthy snack options!
Are you looking for snack ideas? Discover all the kids’ snack ideas of the Community on Teuko.com and show us what you do by uploading a photo (don’t forget the Theme tag “Snack” 😉 )! If you have any hack or want to be featured in our blog, reach out to our team!
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