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School Approved Snacks

Many school systems are adopting health and wellness policies that aim to provide healthier options for students when it comes to snack time. School-approved snacks are the snacks that a school agrees to provide after much consideration of the snacks' dietary detail, including sugar, fat and carbohydrate content and calories. Not only are such snack foods healthier for students to eat, but exposure to healthier alternatives teaches children about nutrition awareness.

  1. Regulations

    • Regulating school snacks makes it easier to control the menu items that are purchased from vendors. The San Jose Unified School District is one such school system that came to agreement on school approved snacks that will not jeopardize students' health. According to SJUSD, regulations are put into place based on the nutritional needs of students. One such snack regulation for SJUSD is that elementary schools must not sell individual snacks that are more than 175 calories. Middle and high school individually-sold snacks must not exceed 250 calories. Beverages are also controlled by SJUSD in the form of monitoring to ensure that juices, energy drinks or other soft drinks do not contain artificial sweeteners.

    Exemptions

    • Schools that adopt nutrition policies regarding school-served meals and snacks have exemptions when it comes to things such as birthdays, pizza parties, school events, holidays and field trips, according to the Texas Classroom Teachers Association's public school nutrition policy. Exceptions to some of the snack rules also exist based on the age group of students. For instance, candy is not allowed for elementary schoolers. Middle schoolers may have candy after lunch and high school students are allowed to eat candy at any time during the day.

    Special Dietary Needs

    • Some students have food allergies that require schools to consider approved snacks that are in line with students' special dietary needs. Failure to consider such needs can result in students with food allergies not being able to eat meals or snacks prepared by the school. Peanut, egg, gluten, corn and soy allergies are not uncommon. As such, schools must be sure to have alternative snacks that are free from major food allergens.

    Types

    • The Center for Science in the Public Interest explains the types of foods that schools base approved snack lists off of. Such food items include fruits and vegetables, healthy grains (such as whole wheat crackers, breads and cereals), baked chips (instead of fried) and yogurts, cheeses and puddings that are not loaded with milk fat. Other suggestions for school approved snacks made by the CSPI include nuts, trail mixes, reduced-sodium lunch meats. For beverages, seltzer water is a healthier alternative to soda and fruit juice made with 100 percent juice (and little to no added sugars) are best.

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