As the holiday season brings festive meals and family gatherings, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) urged parents to promote healthier habits for children and make smarter food choices.

"Besides too much sugar and fats in their diets, many children do not receive the variety of food and nutrients they need to grow strong and healthy," the UNICEF noted.

"They are eating fewer fruits and vegetables while consuming more sugary, salty, and fatty foods, making balanced nutrition even harder to achieve," it added.

The number of overweight children—those weighing more than what's healthy for their height and age—has almost tripled since 2023, according to UNICEF.

To address this, UNICEF advocates for the government to introduce front-of-package nutrition labels—simple symbols on food packages to quickly show if a product is high in sugar, salt, or unhealthy fats.

Start with the serving size

The UN agency also urged parents to start with the serving size.

"The serving size tells you how many servings each product contains and how many grams or pieces is considered as one serving. Take note that nutritional information will be based on just one serving. Consider this when serving your kids the product," UNICEF said.

"For example, the label might say '4 cookies' but a typical three-year-old child only needs about 1,350 calories daily. If one serving (4 cookies) contains 160 calories, and your child eats 8 cookies (160 calories per serving x 2 servings = 320) for the day, that’s already almost one-fourth of the daily energy needs," it added.

Check the calories

This number shows the energy your child gets from each serving. Here’s a quick guide to what children typically need per day:

• 1–3 years old: 920–1,000 kilocalories (kcal)

• 4–6 years old: 1,200–1,400 kcal

• 7–9 years old: 1,400–1,800 kcal

• 10–12 years old: 1,800–2,200 kcal

• 13–18 years old: 2,000–2,600 kcal (boys) and 1,800–2,000 kcal (girls)

"While having a snack is okay, keep in mind their other meals for the day. For example, serving eight cookies is already equivalent to 320 calories, which may be fine for a teenager but may be too much for a four-year-old," UNICEF noted.

It also urged parents to limit unhealthy fats, added sugar, and salt, and instead opt for snacks with less than five grams (g) of saturated fats, 10g of added sugar, and 200 milligrams (mg) of sodium per serving.

Meanwhile, citing the World Health Organization, UNICEF recommended to keeping saturated fats under 10 percent of daily calories and avoiding trans fats entirely to keep children healthy.

Check the ingredients list, look for good nutrients

Additionally, UNICEF urged parents to "watch out for hidden sugars in the ingredients list," which are often called "sucrose" or "corn syrup."

"Take note, as well, that the ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. This means that the first one or two ingredients mentioned in the list are the ones that make up the largest portion of the product," it explained.

"Children need fiber, vitamins, and minerals (like iron and calcium) to grow strong and healthy. While some snacks add these nutrients, it’s best to find foods that naturally have them, like fruits and whole grains. For instance, children four to six years old need 300 mg of calcium and 10mg of iron daily. So, if a product offers at least 10–20 percent of these daily requirements, it’s a helpful addition to your kids’ meals."