• Apple slices with peanut butter
• Fruit with low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese
• Banana or grapes with low-fat or fat-free milk
• Smoothie with yogurt, fruit and ice cubes
• Dried fruits like raisins
• Applesauce or fruit cup
• 1 cup of vegetable or bean soup
• 1 cup of hot cereal – like oatmeal
• Small baked potato with salsa
• Hard-boiled eggs with whole grain crackers
• Nuts mixed with dried fruits
• Whole grain crackers with string cheese
• Chopped raw vegetables with low-fat dip
• Celery with peanut butter
• Whole grain cereal with low-fat milk
• Whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese or peanut butter

When should you grab a snack?

Snacking is good for everybody. Your body needs to refuel every 3-4 hours. Eat shortly after you wake up and between breakfast, lunch and dinner. Avoid late-night snacking.

The BEST thing about snacking!

When you pick low-fat, low-calorie options, you’ll boost energy and metabolism though out your entire day!

Here’s more food for thought.

For children living in poverty, we believe health should be a bridge, not a barrier to learning. HealthNet School-Based Services served more than 3,000 students last year with health care and health education services at eight public and charter schools throughout Marion County. With your help, we can do even more this coming school year to keep kids healthy!

What are your kids looking forward to this school year?

School-based clinics are considered one of the most effective strategies for delivering high quality, comprehensive, and culturally-competent primary and preventive care to children and teens.”

The study was done in Denver, CO – ‘using administrative databases maintained by Denver Health (DH) and Denver Public Schools (DPS)’.  Denver Health is Denver’s primary “safety-net” institution caring for many of the city’s uninsured.  Similar to us here at HealthNet, Denver Health is composed of 11 school-based health centers (SBHCs), 9 community health centers, 2 urgent care centers, and a tertiary care hospital with an emergency department.  HealthNet operates 6 community health centers, 3 specialty care centers, and offers school-based services in 8 schools.

The most interesting fact about the study is that the comparison was between students who use SBHCs and students who use community health centers and NOT a school-based health center.

The findings were clear!

School-based users were less likely to be insured, either by Medicaid or another form of insurance; however, they were more likely to have made greater than 3 primary care visits and half as likely to use emergency care for health maintenance.

The results show the importance of having a health center present in schools.  School-based health centers help boost access to quality care for underserved and uninsured students.

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What do you think about the having access to primary care within schools?
Would it benefit students even if they are NOT in underserved areas?
Leave you comments below!

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To read the full research study click here – the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.