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Summer is making its way to an end, the weather will soon begin to cool, and it's almost time for the kids to go back to school!

With the increasing rates of diabetes and obesity in children, parents are now more concerned than ever with the nutrition and health of their children.

Unfortunately, in most schools around the country, there is a deficit of truly healthy, fresh and nutritious food available. As such, we wanted to provide parents with some great ideas for snacks to pack in their children's lunch boxes that are healthy, high quality, delicious, not too perishable, easy to transport, and popular with kids.

When preparing snacks for your children's lunch box, we suggest making several servings at once so that mom and dad can also take a snack too. What is good for a child, is good for us too! It will save time to make snacks for everyone all at once.

Snack Ideas:

Edamame - Bright green, and fun for the kids to eat. Baked Vegetable Chips - Usually sold with a blend of carrots, zucchini, sweet potato. Look for varieties that are baked, not fried and avoid brands with trans fat (partially hydrogenated oils) and additives such as corn syrup or excess sodium. Carrot/Celery sticks/Zucchini Sticks With Hummus for dipping. Kids love to dip...and this dip is a nutritious one. Organic Apple and Peanut Butter - Make sure the only ingredient in your peanut butter is peanuts! And if you pre-cut the apple, you can use a squeeze of lemon juice to slow process of browning. Home-made trail mix - Mix pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, cashews, and almonds in a large bowl and put servings into individual containers. Brown Rice Cakes with jelly- Pour jelly into small container on the side. Kids can spread jelly onto their rice cake at snack time. Look for brands with the least amount of added sugars and additives. Optional: Add almond butter. Dried fruit/nut bars- Pure Bars or Lara Bars are 'cleaner' bars that they will love. Children may only need 1/2 bar, and adults 1/2-1 full bar). For children, cut bar in half, and wrap the other half for the next day. Greek Yogurt with Berries - Make sure the yogurt stays cool with an icepack or cold lunchbox. If you like, sprinkle yogurt with ground flax seed and/or slivered almonds. To sweeten, try a drizzle of raw honey. Dried Fruit Leathers- Look for brands that are made with real fruit. Fruit salad - Cut up in-season fruits for a tastier and more economical fruit salad. Real Corn tortillas and tomato salsa- Look for corn chips made from stone ground corn, unsalted or lightly salted. Organic Applesauce - Sold in single serving containers. Dried Apple Chips - look for varieties with with no added sweeteners or artificial ingredients.

These snacks will keep children or parents alert, energized and focused! Enjoy the rest of the summer and have a great start to the school year!

*This is reprinted from my Fox NY Blog