School has started, and children are coming home hungry. If you're not ready, they'll raid the fridge or pantry, eating anything in sight with little regard to nutritional value. But with a bit of planning you can help your kids get an A+ when it comes to healthy snacking.

"Snacking should be part of a healthy diet," said Angela Lima, a registered dietician for BJC School Outreach & Youth Development program. "With small children, their stomachs are smaller so they get hungry between meals. For pre-teens and adolescents, there's a lot of growth going on. They are going to feel hunger between meals."

Unfortunately, many kids are munching on the wrong foods. Junk-food snacks account for more than 27 percent of the average American child's daily caloric intake, and those empty calories are tipping the scale in the wrong direction. According to a 2009 report by Trust for America's Heath, the rates of obesity among children ages 2 to 19 have more than tripled since 1980. In Missouri, 31 percent of children are overweight or obese.

"Smart snacking means having a variety of either food groups or of what we would call 'macronutrients': something with protein, carbohydrates and a little bit of fat," Lima said. As an example, Lima noted that a serving of vanilla wafers would be more nutritious when offered with a glass of milk. Even better: fresh apple slices and a few cheese cubes.

"Protein is the thing that makes you feel like you've eaten something. If it's just carb and sugar, you are going to be hungry in an hour," Lima said.

PLANNING A SNACK ATTACK

Although Susan Quinn is busy running her business, Organization Plus, she makes sure that her two active teenagers eat nutritiously. Her pantry, fridge and freezer are stocked with good snacks. "We have every nut in this house. Same thing with cheeses," Quinn said.

After grocery shopping, she makes time to cut fresh veggies and portion them into plastic bags and containers. "They will grab it if it is already cut up," she explained. When Quinn bakes a snack such as muffins, she doubles or triples the recipe and freezes them.

For adolescents who are busy with after-school activities, Lima suggests numerous snacks that travel well in a backpack or insulated lunch box: yogurt, half of a cheese or peanut butter sandwich, a handful of nuts, a bag of grapes or baby carrots. "Fresh fruits and vegetables — hardly anyone gets enough of that in a day," Lima said.

START SMALL

Even before they started school, Quinn began instilling a love of fresh produce in her children. The family was living in London and their refrigerator was dorm-room size. "We didn't have storage space, so we rode to the market every day. They would help pick out the food, we'd prep it and eat it," Quinn said.

Maddie Earnest, the co-owner of Local Harvest Grocery and Local Harvest Café on Morgan Ford Road, pays close attention to the diet of her 3-year-old son, Beck. For Earnest, "healthy" means "as little processing as possible, mostly organic, or grown without chemicals or pesticides." Healthy snacks don't have to take a lot of time. Fruit is their go-to snack, and she sometimes mixes up a quick trail mix of tamari almonds, raisins and a few organic cinnamon graham cookies.

MAKING FOOD FUN

Fun is an important ingredient for getting kids to consume healthy snacks. Vegetables, for example, are less ho-hum when dipped into hummus or a homemade ranch dressing made from low-fat yogurt and cream cheese. Colorful fresh fruit kabobs are more interesting than a plain old apple. Earnest's son loves homemade smoothie popsicles made from yogurt and fresh seasonal fruit. "It's the kind of kind of thing where's he'll say in the morning, 'Can I have a popsicle?' I used to say no, but with a smoothie pops, why not?" Earnest said.

In addition, children are generally more excited about eating food if they have helped to prepare it. Quinn's children enjoy making fruit smoothies and fruit slushes. Earnest's son breaks eggs and mashes bananas for banana bread.

GETTING SMART ABOUT STORE-BOUGHT

Store-bought snacks can be lifesavers, but not all pre-packaged products are created equal. Read labels and look for products that are lower in fat and sodium, are higher in protein and have a moderate amount of carbohydrates, Lima says. She recommends that popular snacks such as granola bars and cereal bars contain 20 grams or less of carbs per serving.

Beware of trans fats. Lima notes that food labels can say "zero trans fat" when the amount is half a gram or less per serving. Check the ingredient list and stay away from anything "partially hydrogenated."

FINDING A KID-HAPPY, MOTHER-APPROVED BALANCE 

There are times when a child may want a snack that isn't quite what a parent was planning on serving. Yet there are ways to compromise. If a child is craving something such as chocolate, use snack time to satisfy that craving in a healthy way, Lima said. For example, make hot chocolate or chocolate milk with skim milk. "An 8-ounce glass has 140 calories, 3 grams of fat, a lot of protein and they'll be pretty satisfied," she said. Opt for chocolate milk instead of a chocolate candy bar, and "you've nearly cut the calories by one-third and the fat by two-thirds," she added.

Earnest also focuses on quality. "For example, if your son wants cheese toast, rather than get hung up on that it is cheese toast, the things I focus on are the quality of bread, the quality of cheese. I think about what I am using to make it."