In today's hectic world, many families are constantly on the go, traveling to sporting and school events, birthday parties and family functions. As a result, drive-through window cuisine and juice boxes are replacing family meals at the dinner table.

However, many health care professionals agree that parents should reconsider and modify these meal options no matter how busy their schedules are in order to prevent their children from facing lifelong issues with obesity and nutritional deficiencies, as well as poor eating habits in general.

If your family's schedule is anything like most, it is difficult to even serve breakfast to everyone in the household at the same time. Children in the household may have different schedules with daycare, preschool and grade school, and parents may be rushing to get ready for work or the carpool and not have time to prepare a special breakfast for everyone to share. Babies and toddlers in the household are often left at the mercy of their older siblings' and parents' schedules, and feeding them may prove to be a difficult task because of it.

This is where packing healthy snacks comes in handy. It may require thinking ahead and a little more effort, but the benefits far outweigh the work required.

Ashley Koff, a registered dietitian and author of Recipes for IBS: Great Tasting Recipes and Tips Customized for Your Symptoms (Fair Winds Press, 2007), suggests cutting up sweet potato chunks, apple or banana slices or packing oat crackers, cheese cubes, cucumber slices and carrot sticks and a homemade or good quality oatmeal cookie to offer young children for mid-morning or afternoon snacks. (Adult supervision is required as any small food could be a choking hazard.)

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