Healthy Low-Fat Foods for Kids

Creating healthy low-fat foods for kids can be fun for both parents and children. Including your kids in food preparation allows you to teach portion sizes, nutrition information and basic cooking skills, which will give them knowledge they can use for a lifetime to feed themselves and their future family.

Fruits

• Kids are more likely to try new healthy, low-fat foods if you present them in a fun manner. Any type of fresh fruit is a great low-fat food for kids to eat and is loaded with nutrients and vitamins. Try cutting fresh fruit into various shapes such as kiwi medallions or melon balls. The Cleveland Clinic suggests creating smoothies by blending low-fat yogurt with a banana, juice and ice (References 2). Try offering your kids fruit leathers made of dried fruit that is pressed into convenient strips. Fruit leathers also are available at your local health food store and come in flavors such as peach, apple, strawberry and blueberry.

Vegetables

• Vegetables are another great low-fat food option for kids that provide key vitamins and nutrients for grow and development. According to the American Dietetic Association, try slicing carrots and celery into sticks that are easy to top with reduced-fat peanut butter or cream cheese and top with raisins to create "ants-on-a-log" treat (References 1). Veggies also are great for dipping in sauces such as low-fat ranch dressing. Try creating a snack platter with broccoli, cauliflower, sliced cucumbers and baby carrots with a small bowl of ranch dressing or make sliced fresh tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper with a side of low-fat cottage cheese for an afternoon snack.

Fun Low-Fat Sandwiches

• Sandwiches are a low-fat food option for kids that can be served in a variety of shapes and sizes. Use cookie cutters to cut various shapes into sandwiches such as stars, diamonds, hearts or squares. Make mini-sandwiches on a reduced-fat dinner roll for a low-fat, bite-sized snack or meal. You are sure to get a smile out of your kids by serving and "inside-out" sandwich by wrapping low-fat deli meat and sliced cheese around a sesame bread stick.

Fast Low-Fat Snacks

• Time is always key in preparing snacks and meals for kids. The American Dietetic Association promotes fast, low-fat snack options include warming a cup of tomato or vegetable soup and serving with whole-grain crackers or microwaving a small baked potato and topping it with salsa and low-fat cheddar cheese (References 1). The Cleveland Clinic suggests create mini-pizzas in a jiff by drizzling a low-fat English muffin with pizza sauce, sprinkling it with low-fat cheese and microwaving until the cheese melts (References 2).

Light Sweets

• Sweet treats do not have to be banned with low-fat substitutes such as an ice cream sandwich alternative made by using low-fat frozen yogurt spread on two graham crackers. Add sliced bananas before putting the two graham crackers together for added flavor. Peel a banana and dip in low-fat yogurt and roll it in crushed cereal. Place in the freezer and serve as a flavorful alternative to popsicles. Gather the entire family for alternative banana splits made of bananas topped with various flavors of low-fat yogurt and sprinkled with granola or crushed, whole-grain cereal.