Important notice to customers — product packaging changesLearn More

NEW FOOD PACKAGING IN STORE NOW

From August 2018, customers will notice our rebranded food packaging start to appear on shelf in all major stockists.

  • CURRENT Packaging
  • new Packaging

We are excited to announce our new packaging will start to appear on shelf from August 2018. This transition to new packaging will occur over a number of months. During this time there will be a mix of current and new packaging on shelf.

There are no major changes to these products, in some instances there is a small name change or slight recipe improvement, see below for the full details.

Products purchased via the website will be delivered to customers in our old packaging until the end of October. From November, products ordered from the website will be delivered in the new packaging.

Please note, our Infant Formula packaging will not be rebranded until later in 2019.

For any questions, connect with our team of accredited practising Dietitians on +61 3 6332 9200

Product name changes

  • Cereal Name Changes
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Baby Rice
  • NEW Packaging Organic Rice with Prebiotic (GOS) Note: Our Baby Rice recipe has been upgraded to now include GOS Prebiotic
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Vanilla Rice Custard
  • NEW Packaging Organic Milk & Vanilla Baby Rice
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Apple & Cinnamon Porridge
  • NEW Packaging Organic Apple & Cinnamon Baby Porridge
  • Ready To Serve Name Changes
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Banana, Pear & Mango
  • New Packaging Organic Banana, Pear, Apple & Mango
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Mango, Blueberry & Apple
  • New Packaging Organic Blueberry, Mango & Apple
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Peach & Apple
  • New Packaging Organic Grape, Apple & Peach
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Pumpkin & Tomato Risotto
  • New Packaging Organic Pumpkin, Sweet Potato & Tomato
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Broccoli, Beef & Brown Rice
  • New Packaging Organic Beef & Vegetables
  • Note: We have also upgraded some of our RTS recipes to remove added sugars and to remove some of the more complex ingredients that are not required for young children such as Tamari.
  • RUSKS NAME CHANGES
  • CURRENT Packaging Organic Milk Rusks Toothiepegs
  • New Packaging Organic Milk Rusks
Home/Nutrition & Recipes/Articles/Childhood Nutrition/Let’s talk about snacking: how often should kids snack?

Let’s talk about snacking: how often should kids snack?

Creative kids breakfast

Research shows toddlers and young children need to snack regularly to get all the calories and nutrients they need for optimal growth and development. The right types of snacks can be nutrient rich additions to the diets of small children as they grow and develop rapidly.

Traditionally, a snack refers to something small – a piece of fruit, a piece of cheese or a biscuit or two – which offers a few carbohydrates and calories to keep your little one fuelled until their next meal.

Unfortunately, in recent years the snacking landscape has changed significantly. It is not uncommon to see toddlers and small children munching on high sugar, processed snacks, multiple times each day. This is not exactly what is being suggested when professionals recommend that growing, healthy children eat frequently.

Snacking: what are the nutrients required?

Growing children need a range of specific nutrients including protein, fibre, iron, calcium and essential fats and 1,000 to 1,400 calories per day. Consider the size of a small child’s stomach is roughly the size of their fist and it is easy to see why three square meals will not get them all the calories and nutrients they require. This is why experts recommend young children include snacks as part of their usual daily intake.

In terms of food, this translates to small children needing two to three small snacks each day – in addition to their regular meals and milk – which may contribute a significant number of calories depending on the age of the child.

Snacking: how much is too much?

What has been lost in translation is the scenario which sees young children eating constantly, grazing on a range of snack foods whenever desired. This poses an issue that children are taught to eat whatever they feel like depending on what snacks are on offer. In turn, this tends to see children who are not overly hungry for their meat and vegetables at dinnertime or their rather bland sandwich at lunch – as they have spent the morning snacking on sweet biscuits, fruit sticks, dried fruit and yoghurt.

Now, no one is saying small children should not be left to starve! Rather they should have structure around their eating times so that they can learn there is a time to eat and a time to not – which is an important aspect of long-term appetite management.

The question of how many snacks is individual to the child, however for most children it will translate to one or two morning snacks – dependent on the time of breakfast – and one afternoon snack followed by an early dinner. If dinner is served late, another late afternoon snack may be warranted.

The key is to allow at least a couple of hours in between feeding occasions rather than encouraging all-day grazing. This will ensure small children experience hunger and eat because of it as opposed to eating simply because food is available.

Snacking: what are the best snacks for children?

An important thing to remember is that the sweeter foods we give children, the more they will want. Recent dietary data has shown between 25 and 30 percent of calories in the diets of Aussie toddlers was coming via extra foods such as biscuits, cakes, lollies and junk foods. This shows our young children are snacking on far too much processed sweet snack food at the expense of nutrient rich alternatives.

The best snacks for children include nutrient rich options – fresh fruit, dairy, whole grains and home prepared foods like cheese, plain yoghurt, cut fruit or plain crackers with spread.

You can imagine if a small child is used to being offered sweet biscuits, muesli bites, dried fruit sticks and straps, potato chips and baked goods that at first they may reject the less processed options. It is important to remember in this instance no child starves when food is available. Continue to offer them a couple of options every couple of hours. Eventually, if they are really hungry they will eat them. It is when we, as parents, give in and offer something more appealing in place of the apple or banana that young perceptive children learn they can decide what they will eat. Parents tend to loose control of the feeding environment and unfortunately their child’s nutritional platform.

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Important Notice to Parents and Guardians

  • Breast milk is the best for babies. The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Unnecessary introduction of bottle feeding or other food and drinks will have a negative impact on breastfeeding. After six months of age, infants should receive age-appropriate foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Consult your doctor before deciding to use infant formula or if you have difficulty breastfeeding.
  • The content on this website is intended as general information for Singaporean residents only and should not be used as a substitute for medical care and advice from your healthcare practitioner. According to recommendations from the Singapore Health Promotion Board, solid food should be given to babies only after 6 months.