CLIF Kid ZBar and ZBar Crispy: Just the Right Size

Like many parents, I like to pack kid-friendly snacks in my kids' lunch boxes: applesauce, fruit cups, cheese slices, granola bars, fruit roll-ups, that sort of thing.  They're easy and convenient, my kids love them, they provide good nutrition (if you choose the right snacks, of course!), and they're sized just right for kids.

However, even though many snacks come in kid-sized and/or kid-friendly packaging, the nutrition information on their labels are still geared towards adult's portions -- so that 200-calorie granola bar you've packed for your 8 year-old is actually 15% of his recommended daily calorie allowance, not 10% like it reads on the label (which is based on the average adult's 2000 calorie daily intake).

Instead of guessing about how much a particular snack food contributes to your child's daily diet, you can check out CLIF Kid's new conversion tool on their website, which converts the percent daily values you see on nutrition labels to more appropriate percent daily values based on your child's age. Just type in the nutrition values you want to compare (calories, fat grams, protein, carbs, etc..) and select your child's age, and it will show you the kids' version. 

By the way, in case you're freaking out over those values (76% daily value of saturated fat!  52% daily value for sodium!), you should know that I typed in the nutrition information for a serving of frozen chicken pot pie.  Please don't call the kid nutrition cops on me, because I don't serve my kids frozen chicken pot pie for a snack!  I much prefer wholesome snacks like CLIF Kid bars, and fortunately, so do they.  Their Z-Bars are a household favorite, and we always keep a supply on hand to throw into a bag when we go to the park, on a road trip, or to summer camp. 

Their newest flavor, Cookies 'n Cream ZBar Crispy, is a big hit with the whole family.   It reminds me of a cookies 'n cream-flavored rice crispy bar, so what's not to like?  I don't even need to tell the kids it's a wholesome snack (with as much iron as 2.5 cups of spinach and as much zinc as 2 cups of peas), because they'd want to eat it anyway.  And since it's already in a convenient kid-sized serving, I don't need to constantly refer to the CLIF Kid conversion tool to be reassured that my kids are getting the right nutrition, in the right amounts.


Disclosure: I received samples of CLIF Kid's Cookies 'n Cream ZBar Crispy to review.. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
 
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