How to ensure your children enjoy a healthy Easter

Easter is upon us, and this is the time when children get caught up in the hype of the ‘Easter hunt’ where baskets are filled with chocolate eggs, bunnies, sweets and other decadent treats.

However, these treats are loaded with sugar, preservatives and unhealthy trans-fat which are bad for the body.

The reality is that you can’t completely exclude the chocolate and sweet treats because this is what Easter treats are all about. As parents, you want to make Easter fun for the children by giving them tasty treats that they will enjoy, but it’s important to make sure that these are healthy.

Gert Coetzee, pharmacist and diet pioneer  understands how children get excited about Easter because of all the treats that the holiday comes with. Below he lists some hints and tips that will help parents make Easter fun and exciting without putting their children’s health at risk.

Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so while it is important to keep it fun, you need to make sure that it’s also healthy.

Eggs are a definite ingredient for any Easter breakfast, so you can make grilled cheese boiled eggs and serve them with bacon, toast and fruit juice. You can serve coloured boiled that have been dyed with beetroot juice.

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Lunch

You can never go wrong with sandwiches, but it’s better to go with brown or whole-wheat bread. Why not cut these into shapes of bunnies and eggs?

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Use cheese, lean cut meats, lettuce, tomato and tuna as fillings. Wraps are also a nice option, just make sure that you choose whole-wheat tortillas. These can be served with vegetables or fruit cut into small, fun pieces. You can use low fat fruit yoghurt or plain yogurt as a dip.

Easter eggs

When it comes to Easter eggs, it’s better to go with the hollow ones instead of the ones with caramel or marshmallow centres as these fillings can increase the sugar content in Easter eggs. Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants which makes it a better option than milk chocolate.

Snacks

Snacks are important as children like to have something to nibble on every now and then. You can bake chocolate or caramel covered cookies with sweets as toppings. This will serve as a healthy snack that comes with a sugar fix.

Chocolate or caramel covered fruit kebabs are also an idea for a fun and healthy snack. After cutting the fruit into small pieces, get the kids to help you cover the kebabs in chocolate.

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Cheese and crackers bunnies will add some fun to snack time. Use the crackers as the face, grate some cheese and sprinkle it on the crackers, and cut some carrots and use them for the bunny ears, whiskers nose. Nuts can be used as eyes on the bunny’s face.

Yoghurt popsicles will be refreshing for the children, especially after they do the Easter egg hunt. These can be a healthy, frozen treat made from low-fat yoghurt and berries mixed together, and frozen in bunny and egg shapes.

Physical activities

Nothing completes Easter like an Easter egg hunt. Challenge the children by telling them that the winner will receive a reward.

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An egg and spoon or a potato sack race can also be a fun for the whole family to enjoy. These will work as fun activities which contribute to the health of the whole family. Being physically active will help the children burn off the calories that they consumed from all the sweet Easter treats.

Dessert

A nice dessert would be great to add onto the Easter menu. You can use this recipe to make delicious chocolate fudge that won’t give the children a sugar rush.

Chocolate fudge recipe

Ingredients

1 packet sugar-free, diet chocolate pudding
0.31 ml sugar
200 ml heavy cream
15 ml chocolate powder, dissolved in 15 ml boiling water
50 ml crunchy peanut butter

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a small pot, except the peanut butter.

2. Heat over low heat. Add the peanut butter. Cook till peanut butter has melted. Stir very well.

3. Grease a small baking pan. Pour the mixture into the pan.

4. Refrigerate till firm. Slice into 16 squares.

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