WITH childhood obesity on the rise, mums are being encouraged to cut out the sugary snacks ahead of the school term which starts this week.

Bombarded with so many sugary snacks on the shelves, Tidworth's fitness expert Angela Ross has given three top tips to finding something the kids will enjoy but won’t send them crashing and burning from a sugar rush.

She said: "Busy mums often struggle with what to put in their kids lunchboxes as a snack especially now more and more schools are taking part in a junk free lunch box campaign.

"Finding a healthy balance of good nutrition and regular exercise is the key to making sure children don’t grow up with weight related disease such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure as well as bone and joint problems."

Her top three tips are:

1. Check the labels, if the first ingredient ends in ‘ose’ then it’s a sugar-based snack. Look out for hidden sugars such as glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose and maltose.

2. Steer clear of dried fruit as it has a high concentrate of sugars, often its coated in oil (fats) to stop it sticking together in the pack. Choose fresh fruits that are lower in sugars such as blueberries, strawberries or pears.

3. Make your own snacks, get the kids involved and do some batch baking at the weekend. It’s important that children know where food comes from and how to prepare it.

For more ideas on healthy eating download Angela’s free Healthy Eating Snacks recipe book at angelaross.leadpages.co/bbc