Summer snacking a chance to build healthier habits

Growing children seem to stay hungry from morning to night. And when they are home for the summer, that means a lot of snacking is happening. It can be the perfect opportunity to help kids build a healthy balance that can last a lifetime.

Stephanie Machacek, board certified nutritionist, owner of Food Factor Nutrition and a Spartanburg mother of four children ages 5 – 11, is eager to help parents and kids live and eat well. And because she has a house full of hungry kids, she has a practical approach to making that happen.

"We're a busy family," Machacek said. "My older three girls play soccer, my son is about to play soccer in the fall, and we're constantly out and about training and doing different things."

Machacek has an undergraduate degree in exercise science, a master's degree in clinical nutrition, she is working on a doctorate and she is a certified nutrition specialist. She puts that education to work in her own kitchen and as she helps other parents and children develop healthy habits.

"This is my calling," she said. "I love talking about different tips and strategies to make it more affordable, but make it fun and make it less of a daunting task for parents."

Summer can mean kids are in sports, at the pool, sleeping in and generally out of whack.

"In terms of families in nutrition, the biggest thing I would say is to keep your kids on somewhat of a schedule when it comes to eating," Machacek said. "And even if that means that they're getting up two hours later than they normally do, they still need to get all of the vitamins and minerals and proteins and all of those things in during the day that their body needs. It just might be a shifted schedule. And that's OK. It just might take a little bit more thought and planning into how they're going to get some of those things in."

Healthy snacks can be an important part of that. Machacek said it is important to plan for snacks just like parents plan for dinner.

"Snacks are great," Machacek said. "Some parents don't think that kids need snacks and kids 100 percent needs snacks. Even some adults still need snacks, depending on what their goals are."

Learn more at foodfactornutrition.com. A Summer Nutrition Detective Club for kids starts June 17. The 8-week virtual club includes nutrition lessons, a live cooking class and more.