Choosing Healthy Food for your Child’s Birthday Party

 Guest Blogger #721, Entry #1677, October 4, 2012

If a lot of us stop and think back many of the birthday parties that we had while growing up, there’s a huge possibility that we had so much junk and sugar on that one day that it was enough to last us for the entire year!

A birthday party celebration, especially for a child, should be fun and memorable and yes, even filled with a couple of sugary goodies. But, there can (and should) definitely be some healthy food choice options that are provided as well.

Make their next party fun!

Image via

Here are five of our recommendations:

Try an ice cream alternative.

What kind of party would there be without ice cream? However, aside from that fact that it is loaded with calories, ice cream is also a dairy product and there are more and more studies indicating that dairy causes more mucus in our systems, it’s high in fat and cholesterol and it’s very low in iron (something that all growing kids need). Instead, consider an ice cream alternative like Rice Dream. Or even some frozen yogurt, sorbet or sherbet.

Popcorn over chips.

Potato chips and corn chips (although if they are baked, they tend to be a whole lot healthier) are filled with sodium. A nice substitute for them would be popcorn because it is loaded with fiber and antioxidants. Now, you’ll want to be sure to keep the salt and butter down to a minimum, but when you do things like make popcorn balls, it’s so much fun for kids that they won’t really notice the difference.

Create this fun fruit party snack idea

Image via

Seltzer water instead of soda.

A lot of sodas have as much as 150 calories (or more) in them per serving. A big part of that is due to the amount of sugar that is in them. Children tend to like the “fizz and pop” of soda more than anything else and there are certainly ways that you can come to a happy compromise to satisfy that need. Try getting some seltzer water or mineral water and mixing it with some fruit juice. Even for an adult’s taste buds, it’s hard to tell the difference.

Go organic.

Whether it’s chicken nuggets or cheeseburgers, it’s healthier for everyone if you purchase meat that is organic and then to bake the food rather than fry it. You can roll the chicken nuggets in a homemade breading and put them on a non-stick pan for the oven. When it comes to the cheeseburgers, simply roll them into patties and place them in the oven as well. MyOrganicRecipes.com is one website that is filled with all kinds of cooking ideas for easy finger foods.

Serve fruit and vegetables in a fun way

Image via

Don’t get takeout.

If you live in California, it might be tempting to order some fast food. If you live in Florida, you might think about going online to look for pizza delivery Jacksonville. And yes, while ordering takeout food is probably more convenient, it tends to be pretty costly for one, and loaded with fat, for two. You’re much better off cooking at home. One of easiest (and quickest) things to make is pizza. You can even get the kids in on it (if they are old enough) by having them make their own personal pan ones as a part of the party experience. Enjoy!

For more food ideas on Stagetecture, click here