When you keep healthy snack food in the house, you set in motion not only good eating patterns for your family now but for years to come. What your children eat now helps to form their palate for their future pattern of food selection. Of course, there's an additional benefit for the older members of the family. Healthy snacks are normally low in calories but provide a lot of nutrition. Even those not so low in calories have benefits that outweigh your caloric intake.

Scientists and nutritionists agree that snacks play an important role in weight control and nutrient intake. A healthy snack curbs the appetite so you don't become a glutton at the next meal and if coordinated with the rest of the meals, can round out your daily intake of nutrients.

Some of the healthy snacks include fresh fruits and vegetables you have sliced, peeled and ready to eat. If you want to add to the treat, you can make your own dip using a tofu sour cream substitute or yogurt. Add plenty of herbs and spices for flavor. The herbs and spices you put in the dip can increase your family's intake of nutrients by a considerable amount.

Making use of all the parts of a vegetable for a healthy snack not only helps your nutrition, it also helps your pocketbook. If you carve a pumpkin at Halloween or use the firm flesh of the pumpkin for a pie or other treat, don't throw out the seeds. Save the seeds and wash them thoroughly in plain water. You can soak them overnight in brine made of ½ cup of salt to 4 cups of water, but these aren't necessarily the healthiest pumpkin seeds for those on a low sodium diet.

To make the healthiest of snacks from pumpkin seeds, simply wash thoroughly and lay out to dry overnight on a cookie sheet. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Toss the seeds in sunflower oil, olive oil or butter and then sprinkle with your favorite spice or seasoning such as garlic powder, seasoning salt or onion powder. Bake for an hour and toss every 15 minutes to heat evenly. You can use squash seed or sunflower seeds in place of the pumpkin seeds.

If you love Cajun food and want your seeds crisp and entirely edible, mix a tablespoon of already melted butter with a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. Toss them in the oil and then coat them with a mixture of ¼-teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. Bake in an oven preheated to 300 degrees. They should be crunchy and ready to remove in approximately 45 minutes to an hour. You can store all the cooked pumpkin seeds but allow them to cool first. These healthy snacks are ready anytime you have a hankering for a crunchy treat.

Other healthy snacks include popcorn. Avoid the heavily buttered popcorn and instead, get the low calorie type. You can add that butter flavor with spray bottles of butter-flavored oil. Simply squirt a spray or two over the popcorn. You'll have the flavor with no excess butter on your fingers and palms to wipe away.

If your family loves smoothies, freeze fruit in small amounts and have it ready for the frozen delight. Purchase popsicle sticks and make banana pops by coating a half of banana with peanut butter and rolling it in crushed peanuts to coat, then freeze. A simple cup of plain yogurt with the live bacteria can be a taste treat when you add fresh fruit to it. There are all types of healthy snack food that's easy to prepare ahead of time and have ready for that afternoon craving.